HISTORY, IMPORTANCE AND
DEVELOPMENT OF
TRADE STATISTICS
IN THE CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY
(CARICOM)
PAGE 25

to Integrative Process
PAGE 10

FROM COLGRAIN
To Turkeyen
PAGE 31

CARICOM VIEW

www.CARICOM.ORG

RETURN
to
Chaguaramas
Forty years to the
date after the
founding Treaty of
the integration
movement was
signed, Heads of
Government
journeyed to
Chaguaramas, to
commemorate
and celebrate at
the cradle of the
Caribbean
Community
CARICOM.

T

They travelled by sea and road
from Port-of-Spain on 4 July
2013, to the northwestern
peninsula area of Chaguaramas, to
the same building where, four decades
ago, the Communityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s founding fathers the Hon. Errol Barrow, Prime Minister of
Barbados, the Hon. Michael Manley,
Prime Minister of Jamaica, the Hon. Eric
Williams, Prime Minister of Trinidad and
Tobago, and the Hon. Forbes Burnham,
Prime Minister of Guyana - signed the
Treaty of Chaguaramas, bringing into
being the Caribbean Community and
Common Market.
Drum rolls and fanfares befitting such an
historic occasion, heralded the arrival of
the Heads of Government of CARICOM at
the beautifully decorated Chaguaramas
Convention Centre to celebrate the
Community. There, the Hon. Freundel
Stuart, the Most Hon Portia
Simpson-Miller, His Excellency Donald
Ramotar, and the Hon. Kamla

1

Persad-Bissessar, Heads of Government of Barbados,
Jamaica, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago,
respectively, recommitted to the integration
movement and to fulfilling the vision of the founding
fathers. They later joined the other Heads of
Government attending the Thirty-Fourth Meeting of
the Conference of Heads of Government to affix their
signatures to a commemorative document.
Prime Minister Stuart, who led the quartet in brief
remarks, retraced the steps to the establishment of
the Community, and acknowledged that
Chaguaramas was indelibly imprinted on CARICOMâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
history.
The Community, he said, was positioned between
hope and history. While history could not be
reversed, it was the duty of current torchbearers to
give flesh to the hope, to work closely together to
consolidate our independence. Progress, he
underlined, was not going to happen by accident, but
by conscious decision.
Punctuating her remarks with quotations from the
founding fathers, Prime Minister Simpson-Miller
cautioned the Community to reacquaint itself with
the context that informed the creation of CARICOM

CARICOM VIEW

which she said was more than an
organization. It represented, she said, the
vision and aspiration of the founding
fathers for a strong integrated region to
provide the best prospects for social and
economic development.
She said that the Community needed to
be serious in its introspection in the
ever-changing, dynamic international
community, and had to have continuous
evaluation and renewal.
For President Ramotar, the needs of the
people of the Caribbean were paramount.
“As leaders, we must ask ourselves
whether the people of the region have
benefitted fully from this process,” he
said. In praising the courage and foresight

A publication of the Caribbean Community

of the four founding Prime Ministers,
President Ramotar pointed out that the
need for integration was perhaps greater
now than when the Treaty was signed 40
years ago.

“We either give up” or pursue the
path of unity.
THE PRIME MINISTER
OF TRINIDAD & TOBAGO,
THE HONOURABLE
KAMLA PERSAD-BISSESSAR, SC
In her remarks, Prime Minister
Persad-Bissessar lauded the vision of the
founding fathers and called for a positive
reflection, and incarnation of the spirit
and intention of their vision.

The integration movement was at an
important juncture of the evolution of the
Community where “we either give up” or
pursue the path of unity. The challenge,
she told the Chaguaramas gathering, was
not to be indecisive; not to turn around,
not to delay, but to persist towards the
redirection of our destiny.
The programme was interspersed with
cultural presentations from Barbados,
Jamaica, Guyana and Trinidad and
Tobago, following the remarks by the
respective Heads of Government. In word,
song, dance, drama and art, the culture of
the Community was showcased for the
appreciative gathering at the
Chaguaramas Convention Centre.

Heads of Government at the Rededication Ceremony
at the Chaguramas Convention Centre, Chaguaramas
on 4 July 2013.

2

www.CARICOM.ORG

CARICOM VIEW

RE-DEDICATION TO THE PRINCIPLES OF
THE TREATY OF CHAGUARAMAS
on the Occasion of the 40th Anniversary
of the Establishment of the Caribbean Community
(CARICOM)

O

On the occasion of the fortieth
anniversary of the establishment of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), we, the Heads of State
and Government of the Caribbean
Community (CARICOM):
Remain dedicated to the ideals of our
founders for the integration of our
economies and our people of the Caribbean Region;
Recognise the invaluable contributions
made by CARICOM nationals over the
years in numerous areas including ,
education, health, security, Foreign
Policy, Sports, Arts, Literature and
Cultural Development, among others;
Are resolute in our determination to
further enhance our tradition for united
action as we strive to propel our Community to achieve sustained economic and

social development in securing increased
global competitiveness for our respective
Member States and to secure a higher
standard of living for all our peoples;
Undertake to recalibrate and fully
implement the goals and objectives of our
Community consistent with the best
interests of the Community, including its
people;
Pledge to strengthen existing policies and
embark on new initiatives aimed at
secunng our common interests regionally
and internationally;

In witness thereof, we have affixed our
signatures:
4th July 2013
Chaguaramas, Trinidad and Tobago

t is with immense pleasure and a
deep sense of Caribbean patriotism
that I welcome my sisters and
brothers of the region to this most
historic occasion.

That sense of determination and
consciousness continues to drive our
Caribbean Community today, which is
characterised by forty years of dialogue
and unity.

Forty (40) years ago on this day, the
founding fathers of the region executed
what is perhaps, the most significant
accord that would govern the relationship
of the nation-states which comprise the
Caribbean Community.

However, after forty years, we find
ourselves at an important juncture in the
evolution of our Caribbean Region.
We must commit to either go forward
together or to succumb to the negativity
and unconstructiveness of the naysayers
who declare CARICOM to be irrelevant.

There can be no doubt that the historic
signing of July 4th 1973, was preceded by
long and meticulous study, debate and
articulation towards the final product; the
Treaty of Chaguaramas.
There is no doubt that the framers of that
celebrated Treaty would have toiled to
ensure that it reflected the composite
views of the many men, women, children
and governments who helped mould and
crystallise its formulation.
And whilst there is never an Agreement
that can represent the aims, ambitions
and aspirations of a people with exactitude, we can safely say that forty years
ago our political forefathers were on the
right track.

I say we cannot, must not, let perish the
vision and hopes of our great leaders who
stood right here 40 years ago, firm in the
belief that it was only through collective
effort that the ambitions of the peoples of
the Caribbean could be materialised.
This morning through sound and
movement; art and drama, we showcase
our “Caribbean-ness”, testimony to our
creativity and innovation and our
unbridled ability to rise above any
challenge we may have to face.
Let this re-enactment today be not just a
physical dramatization of our past, but a
tangible rededication to the future.
Let today be a day for positive reflection.

In the very Preamble to that momentous
declaration, the signatories pledged, inter
alia, to be “Determined to consolidate and
strengthen the bonds which have
historically existed amongst their
peoples”....and to be “Conscious that
these objectives can most rapidly be
attained by the optimum utilisation of
available human and natural resources of
the Region”.

4

Let it be the reincarnation of the spirit
and intendment of the Charter of July
4th 1973.
Let today become our moment for new
resolve.
Let it be the moment for rejuvenated
determination and consciousness;
watchwords so passionately inscribed in

CARICOM VIEW

www.CARICOM.ORG

the Preamble to the Caribbean’s most
famous document.
The task before us is clear.
Our challenge is not to be indecisive, not to
hesitate, not to reverse, not to turn around.
Our challenge is not to delay and loiter over
hardship, adversity or difficulty, but to
persist and to rally on our course towards
the realisation of the destiny that our
forefathers have set for us.
I thank you.

PAUL KEENS DOUGLAS
AT CHAGUARAMAS

This morning through sound and
movement; art and drama, we
showcase our “Caribbean-ness”,
testimony to our creativity and
innovation and our unbridled ability to
rise above any challenge we may have
to face.
The Hon. Kamla Persad-Bissessar,
Prime Minister,
Republic of Trinidad and Tobago

JAMAICAN DANCERS AT CHAGUARAMAS

5

CARICOM VIEW

A publication of the Caribbean Community

Remember

livetoup

vision of
FOREFATHERS

the Most Hon.
Portia Simpson-Miller
PRIME MINISTER OF JAMAICA
AT THE COMMEMORATIVE
EVENT AT THE CHAGUARAMAS
CONVENTION CENTRE,
CHAGUARAMAS
4 July 2013

Among the many things we the people of
the Caribbean have in common is the
warm and welcoming Caribbean Sea. Its
foamy crests embrace all our coastlines.
Our island homes are set like tiny jewels

for the benefit of all our peoples.

amidst its crystal blue waters. Yet each
jewel is different – rare and precious –
distinctive and diverse. As Caribbean
peoples, our similarities and our differences have origins in unique experiences
of altered histories.

common histories and cultures of
community. They called it the Caribbean
Community, CARICOM.
Forty years ago, in 1973, the Treaty of
Chaguaramas was signed in this
CARICOM Member State of Trinidad and
Tobago, formalizing the intent of our
community of nations. Today, 4th July
2013, we celebrate the 40th Anniversary
of this bold and historic step.

Forty years ago, our forefathers and
mothers decided that it was prudent to
embrace both that which we had in
common and that which gave us our
distinct flavours to move towards a
common goal. It was the visionary
leadership from Barbados, Guyana,
Trinidad and Tobago and our very own
late Prime Minister of Jamaica, the Right
Honourable Michael Manley, that insisted
that we should pool our collective efforts

6

In their wisdom, they established a
structure built on partnership; they
created an institution that embraced our

It is an honour for me to participate, this
morning, in the symbolic signing
ceremony to mark the 40thyear since the
signing of the Treaty of Chaguaramas,
signifying Jamaica’s recommitment to the
letter and principles entrenched in the
Revised Treaty governing this important

CARICOM VIEW

family of nations.
The theme we have chosen to mark this
significant milestone, `Forty (40) years of
Integration: Celebration and Renewal’,
causes us to cast our eyes in retrospect
even as we move steadily forward. It
reminds us that the CARICOM construct,
as envisaged forty years ago, is rooted in
our history, geography, culture and many
other commonalities which remain
fundamental to its existence and survival.
Madam Chair, Caribbean integration
predates the formal establishment of
CARICOM. That journey towards the
formulation of CARICOM causes me to
pause to recall the sentiment of the four
founding Prime Ministers who spoke at
the Special Conference of Heads of
Government of the Independent
Commonwealth Caribbean at Chaguarmas, Trinidad and Tobago, July 4, 1973.
Ladies and gentlemen; An entire generation of Caribbean peoples has emerged
since then. This is one reason why it is
important that we reacquaint ourselves
with the context which informed the
creation of CARICOM. Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen, CARICOM is more
than an organisation or mechanism. It
represents the vision and aspiration of
our forefathers for a strong integrated
region which would provide the best
prospects for economic and social
development.
It is our responsibility, not only to
remember their vision, but importantly,
to live up to it. We must bring that vision
to life in this generation and the next for
the benefit of all Caribbean people. The
great regionalist, Norman Washington
Manley said, we have to do so “with a
fixity of purpose and continuity of effort”.
The then Host Prime Minister, Dr Eric
Williams, said, among other things forty
years ago: ‘After having placed the
traditional emphasis on links [with the]
metropolitan economy rather than our
own individual economies, we have learnt
the importance of close ties with one
another at economic and other levels whether higher education or health,
labour or shipping, examinations,
financial matters or mass communications.

www.CARICOM.ORG

The late Errol Barrow, former Prime
Minister of Barbados, pointed to two
experiences which informed his passion
for Caribbean integration and unity. One
was the West Indian Students Union in
London in the 1940s, which staged the
first public meeting on Caribbean
integration in London. The other, on July
4, 1965, when he and former Prime
Minister of Guyana, Forbes Burnham,
met to discuss the possibility of establishing a free trade area between the two
countries, in the first instance, and the
rest of the Caribbean “at such time as
they were willing to follow their
examples”.
Mr. Burnham believed that the Caribbean
must view its resources in totality and
that they should be developed for
individual countries, for region and
equitably distributed. He reminded us
that we cannot cower, paralysed in the
corner of caution in this time of human
affairs; that we should be careful, exact in
our occasions and in what we propose to
do; but that the care and the exactness,
must be exercised on the high road of
action.
The commemoration of this important
milestone provides us with an opportunity to celebrate our achievements and
reflect upon the various challenges over
the years, as we seek to predict, strategize
and respond to the current and rapidly
changing international environment.
CARICOM, despite its challenges, remains
one of the most highly developed
integration movements in the world.
Therefore, as a Community, we have much
to be proud of.
Of course, we must do serious introspection in this ever changing dynamic
international community. We must
ensure continuous evaluation and renewal
to ensure the capacity of the movement
to achieve objectives of the Revised
Treaty.

7

Integration is a process
not an event. We the
Caribbean are great
peoples whose spirits
continue to infuse the
world with music, colour,
spice, vibrancy and
excitement. No challenge
can daunt a people who
created the technology
that makes sweet music
from steel pans. No
problem can stop a
people whose reggae
music has inspired
revolutionary change
across the world. What
can deter peoples whose
athletic prowess defies
the laws of physics and
whose depth of thought is
seen in distinguished
scholarship?
Nothing can stop a
united Caribbean people.
We are from the crests of
the blue mountains to the
glassy waters of Grand
Anse… we are from the
deep forests of Guyana
and Suriname. We
celebrate the beautiful
bays of St. Vincent, the
hot sulpher springs of
Saint Lucia and
Dominica.

oday is the 4th day of July, in
the year of our Lord 2013. Forty
years ago at this place, the
Treaty of Chaguaramas was
signed. Today, we try to re-enact what
happened forty years ago.

Barbados in that meeting between Barrow
and Burnham that the decision was taken
to establish a Caribbean Free Trade
Association. Of course, the fourth of July
was also the birthday of that distinguished Jamaican patriarch, the late
Norman Washington Manley, who did so
much in his time to promote the integration of this region.

Now history does not repeat itself.
Historians repeat themselves, but history
does not repeat itself. But it helps us to
understand what happened on the fourth
of July 1973. If I remind you that after
the collapse of the Federation in 1962
attempts were made to redeem the
reputation of this region by attempts at a
small federation in the Eastern Caribbean
- the so called, Little Eight effort. Most of
those negotiations took place in Barbados
and when it became clear to the then
premier of Barbados, Mr. Errol Walton
Barrow, that those negotiations were
going nowhere, he wrote them off and
ended the attempt at a Little Eight
Federation.

After Barrow and Burnham agreed, they
were to discover that the then Head of
Government of Antigua, Vere Cornwall
Bird was similarly disposed and, therefore, in 1965 at Dickenson Bay in
Antigua, the CARIFTA agreement was
formally signed. Two years elapsed and
then at a conference held in Barbados in
1967, all the other English-speaking
CARICOM Member States, committed
themselves to this Caribbean Free Trade
Association and, therefore, CARIFTA
became an authentic and living reality.
By 1972, Chaguaramas, which has so
much been a history of Trinidad and
Tobago reclaimed, as I seem to recall, if
my history is not deceiving me, by the
then leader of Trinidad and Tobago, the
late Dr. Eric Williams, in an event which
has gone down in history as the march in
the rain, but at Chaguaramas in1972,
Barrow, Burnham, Dr. Eric Williams and
Michael Manley met and took the historic
decision to affirm this regionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s maturity,
committing themselves to diplomatic
relations with Cuba. That was a historic
step in itself and wrote Chaguaramas
further into the history of this region.

On the 27 June 1965, Barrow wrote the
then premier of Guyana, Linden Forbes
Sampson Burnham, a letter inviting him
to come to Barbados to discuss the
possibility of establishing a Caribbean
Free Trade Association.
The 27th of June 1965 was a Sunday, and
Burnham travelled to Barbados the
following Sunday which would be Sunday,
July 4, to have those discussions with the
premier of Barbados.
Now you know why the date, the fourth
of July is sanctified in our regional
history. Because it was on that day in

81

CARICOM VIEW

One year later, it was here at Chaguaramas, that the same four Caribbean
leaders, Dr Eric Eustace Williams, Michael
Norman Manley, Linden Forbes Sampson
Burnham and Errol Walton Barrow met
and signed the Treaty of Chaguaramas.
They had one simple mission - and it was
to bring this region and its peoples more
closely knit together, and as I said last
evening, I need no persuasion at all that
forty years later the people of this region
are more closely united than at any other
time in the history of the Caribbean.
We have been colonials for much longer
than we have been independent states.
And rolling back the tide of history, and
the consciousness which that history
imposes will take a little time, but I don’t
think that as a region we have anything to
be ashamed about. We have shown the
world that we have come together, we
work together and try to realise the
dreams and aspirations of the people of
this region.
So, today, as we meet to re-enact the
events of forty years ago, we stand, do we
not, positioned between hope and history.
History we cannot reverse, we cannot
unmake, but to hope we can give flesh
and authentic living expression.
We need to consolidate the independence
for which we fought in this region. And
we can only consolidate that independence by working more closely together.

www.CARICOM.ORG

It is not going to happen by accident. It is
going to happen by our consciously
deciding to make our history within the
constraints, of course, that our concrete
circumstances allow.
We’re not going to consolidate that
independence if we keep our gaze fixed
beyond the perimeters of this region and
if we continue to invest in Madison
Avenue tastes and lifestyles. We must
look inward; draw on the strengths and
on the resources of this region; affirm our
faith in what this region produces; what it
creates; what it believes; and daily,
minutely remind ourselves that we have a
unique contribution to make to the
treasury of human civilization.
There are those who have gone before
who have pointed us in that direction
already, but we need to remind ourselves
and those whom we meet that this region
is special and has its own contribution to
make to the unfolding drama of mankind.
So, I’m very pleased to be here today to be
part of this effort. Very pleased to see so
many people turn out today. I conclude by
saying this now- theologians still dispute
who wrote the book of Hebrews, and that
is not a dispute to which I intend to add
my voice today. I seem to recall that it
was in that book of Hebrews that it was
written, and I close with this, of course,
by way of paraphrase.

9

“Seeing that we are
compassed about by so
great a cloud of
witnesses, let us lay aside
every weight and the
distractions that so easily
beset us and let us as
Caribbean people run
with patience the race
that is set before us.
Looking always to Him
whose glory the heavens
continue to declare as
the author and finisher of
our regional faith!”
Thank you very much!

wish to express my gratitude for the
arrangements put in place today to
bring us to Chaguaramas to mark
this important milestone in our
Community's history; 40 years since the
momentous and courageous step was
taken by our founding fathers to sign the
Treaty of Chaguaramas.

This occasion, while it calls for celebration, is also one for reflection,
self-evaluation on whether we have been
effective enough in our integrative efforts.
As leaders we must ask ourselves whether
the peoples of the Region have benefitted
fully from this process. Much talk about
the implementation deficit is widely
spoken about. We must ask ourselves and
we must ensure that there is no commitment deficit. Let us recommit to reducing
if not eradicating the deficit that we have
seen in our region.

Forty years ago, the Region was just
emerging from colonialism and the then
leaders recognized that to survive and
prosper in an international environment
that was not always sympathetic and they
knew that from the history of colonialism
in the region
that they needed to integrate the region.
They obviously recognized that we had
good conditions to embark on that
course. We have a common history, a
common culture in many ways and a
common desire of our peoples to live
together in unity.

This should therefore be an opportune
time for us as a Community to recommit
ourselves to an integrative process that is
always adaptable to the changing
circumstances. Optimal utilization of our
productive capacity in this Region will
remain elusive in the absence of strong
and meaningful integration. We must
never forget that our people must see and
feel the benefits of integration. As the
late President of our country Cheddi
Jagan said in October 1992 at a Special
Session of Caribbean Heads of Government â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have to work as a collective and
consult our respective constituencies so
that we march, not ahead or behind but
together with our peopleâ&#x20AC;?, and I submit
that our people want us to march
together. Those sentiments are even more
relevant today.

Shortly after the signing of this Treaty
that brought forth CARICOM, the world
was struck by the first crisis, the oil crisis
which exposed the extreme vulnerabilities
of our individual Member States and
served to vindicate the decision that was
taken to integrate.
Today, even though much has changed
and we have made some progress, the
need for integration is probably greater
now than it was when this Treaty was
signed 40 years ago.

There is no doubt that the Region has
made great progress. We have established
several institutions which we need to
strengthen and we have taken many
decisions. It is time for us to move the
process forward with more vigor and
more purposefully.

The financial and economic crises that
began in Europe and North America have
impacted heavily on our Region and
clearly the need for us to have greater
integration has become more urgent.

10

CARICOM VIEW

Clearly too we the areas and the ideas, we
have the decisions, we have studies all of
which we have done in the past. We know
that these measures will redound to the
interest of the region and positively
impact on the lives of our people. For
example, we have studies on transportation, we have the Regional Financial
Architecture, we have the Jagdeo
Initiative on Agriculture, the free
movement of people and hassle free travel
is vital and very important in helping us
to strengthen our integration movement.
This implementation deficit needs to be

www.CARICOM.ORG

resolved lest we find ourselves guilty of a
commitment deficit.
It is therefore my hope that the Reform
process currently engaging the Regionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
attention will result in a mechanism that
is more proactive. It is only with more
dynamism that the Community would
best be able to respond to the fast
changing global environment that we find
ourselves in.

commitment to its preservation and
further consolidation for the ultimate
benefit of the peoples of our Region.
Let me end by paying tribute to the four
founding leaders who displayed courage
and foresight, qualities which this
generation must adopt in realizing the
dream of a united, peaceful and prosperous Caribbean.
I thank you for your attention.

Guyana remains proud to be the seat of
this great Community and I reiterate our

11

CARICOM VIEW

A publication of the Caribbean Community

The Regional Integration Process
and the Future of CARICOM
AMBASSADOR IRWIN LaROCQUE
SECRETARY-GENERAL CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY
Distinguished Lecture delivered at University of the West Indies
Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago | 3 October 2013

I

NTRODUCTION
I am honoured to be here with you
this afternoon at the invitation of
Professor Sankat
to deliver this lecture
and begin the series of
Distinguished Lectures
on our integration
movement. It is a
discourse that is much
needed and if my
understanding is correct,
I look forward to hearing
from some of the
Region’s iconic figures
on this theme.
There can hardly be a
better place for such a
conversation, given the
long involvement and
prominent role of the
University of the West
Indies in integration.
The intellectual foundation for the modern
movement emanated
from this institution and some of its
leading academics have continued in that
tradition by contributing their thoughts,
views and in many cases their time and
energy towards furthering the integration
process. The alumni of this institution
have been providing leadership in all
fields in the Region and abroad and many
of those who have passed through the
halls have confessed that their grounding
in and support for regional integration
found its genesis at the University. The
Region owes a debt to UWI. More now
than ever, the tradition must continue.

The nexus between this institution and
the regional integration process was
cemented when in 1963, trying to salvage
the wreck of the Federation, the then

is so needed to integrate this Region. For
make no mistake, to integrate small states
such as ours, united and divided by the
Caribbean Sea, with
disparities of capacity,
in different stages of
economic development,
jealous of their sovereignty, and among some
of the youngest nation
states in the world,
requires fortitude,
patience and vision.
AMBASSADOR IRWIN
Indeed, one of the most
LaROCQUE
ardent devotees of
SECRETARY-GENERAL
regional integration, Sir
Shridath Ramphal stated
CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY
in a speech in 1975: “The
natural state of our
Caribbean is fragmentation: without constant
effort; without unrelenting perseverance and
discipline in suppressing
instincts born of
tradition and environPrime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago,
ment, it is to our natural state of disunity
Dr Eric Williams, called for a meeting of
that we shall return.”
his colleague Heads of Government in the
Anglophone Caribbean to discuss the
No surprise therefore that regional
future of common services. Chief among
integration has had a long history of
these was UWI, which was viewed as
gradualism, moving, some will argue, at
indispensable to the integration movethe pace of the slowest. Of course, it can
ment. Fifty years later, that characterisaalso be argued that such a steady
tion still holds true.
approach has resulted in the Caribbean
Community being the longest surviving
The experiences and the knowledge that
economic integration movement among
so many gained from their stint at the
developing countries and indeed second
institution doubtlessly would have both
only to the European Union, globally, in
encouraged and fortified the “regional
longevity. That “unrelenting persevernationalism” that existed at the time and
ance” of which Sir Shridath spoke, fuelled

12

CARICOM VIEW

by our innate desire to come together, has
ensured that this year we celebrate 40
years as the Caribbean Community
(CARICOM). And I am confident that
CARICOM will be here to celebrate its
achievements in another 40 years.
In sharing my thoughts with you this
evening I will briefly trace the evolution
of the integration movement, give a sense
of where we are today, point to the major
challenges and look to the future.
HISTORY
Ladies and Gentlemen, in real terms our
integration process can be regarded as
beginning eighty one years ago, given that
it was in 1932 that the first concrete
proposals for Caribbean unity were put
forward at a meeting of Caribbean labour
leaders in Roseau, Dominica.
It was the labour movement which
championed and pioneered integration as
a means of self-governance for the West
Indian territories. At congresses in the
late 1920s and 1930s, Caribbean labour
leaders went from discussion of the idea
to actually drafting a constitution for the
unified territories, aided in large measure
by a young economist from Saint Lucia,
Arthur Lewis, who later distinguished
himself and the Region as our first Nobel
Laureate.
Progress stalled with the intervention of
the Second World War but shortly after
its end in 1945, momentum was regained
towards independence as a unit. This was
the main theme of a landmark meeting
which took place in 1947 at Montego Bay,
Jamaica. Out of that meeting, the process
began towards the West Indies Federation. This Federation would eventually
involve the British colonies, with the
exception of then British Guiana and
British Honduras, and came into being in
1958. Its goal was Independence and
some services were established to support
the West Indian nation, including a
Supreme Court and a shipping line. In
preparing for Independence, a plan for a
Customs Union was drawn up but during
the four years of the Federationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
existence free trade was not introduced
among the islands.

www.CARICOM.ORG

The end of the Federation in 1962
brought a close to this phase and to this
approach to integration. In many ways,
however, the end of the Federation led to
the beginning of another chapter in the
integration process which would evolve
into the Caribbean Community. The need
to maintain and possibly expand the
Common Services that existed during the
Federation was the catalyst for that
(1963) Common Services Conference
which I mentioned earlier. The UWI and
the Regional Shipping Service along with
the Caribbean Meteorological Service,
which began one year later, kept the
embers of integration glowing along with
the so-called Little 8, comprising the
Windward and Leeward Islands and
Barbados which stayed together after the
dissolution of the Federation.
The Little 8 folded in 1965 and later that
year, the Premiers of Barbados and British
Guiana and the Chief Minister of Antigua
and Barbuda Messrs Barrow, Burnham
and Bird respectively, agreed to establish
the Caribbean Free Trade Association
(CARIFTA). It was the first attempt to
integrate through trade. The other
territories joined this initiative and
CARIFTA was launched in 1968 along
with the Commonwealth Caribbean
Regional Secretariat, which became the
CARICOM Secretariat.
During that period, â&#x20AC;&#x153;regional nationalismâ&#x20AC;?
was alive and well. It was a nationalism
born out of the common desire and
recognition of the imperative to forge our
individual nationalism within a regional
context. There was a political chemistry
among our Leaders.
Eight years later, recognizing that
CARIFTA could only carry us thus far, our
Leaders felt confident enough to move on
to a Common Market and Community
and deepened the integration arrangements on the basis of three pillars:
economic integration; foreign policy
co-ordination and functional
co-operation. The Treaty of Chaguaramas
formalising this new arrangement was
signed in 1973. That Treaty which
reflected the aspirations of the time could
only carry us so far. It included a
Common External Tariff (CET) which
incidentally requires Member States to

13

give up some sovereignty. However,
decisions were largely unenforceable and
dispute settlement arrangements were
weak. Trade barriers among members
were also rampant and many of the
provisions of the Treaty were best
endeavour clauses.
Sixteen years later, the watershed
meeting of Heads of Government at
Grand Anse, Grenada in 1989, set the
Region on course towards the CARICOM
Single Market and Economy (CSME).
Grand Anse was a bold response to the
circumstances of the day. The Community was faced with a changing global
economic environment while the
performance of the regional economy was
sluggish. The traditional market for our
commodities was threatened with the
advent of the European Single Market,
and discussions continued on the global
trading arrangements. Both of these
developments would result in preference
erosion for the commodities the Region
had come to rely on so heavily. Grant
assistance was also declining. Our
Leaders recognized that we needed to
become more self-reliant for our development. A deeper form of integration was
the logical answer to those challenges.
To accommodate this even deeper form of
integration, the Treaty was revised
significantly and was signed in 2001. That
revision of the Treaty set out the
objectives for the Community, including
the Single Market and Economy. These
include improved standards of living and
work; full employment of labour and
other factors of production; accelerated,
co-ordinated and sustained economic
development and convergence; enhanced
co-ordination of Member States' foreign
policies; and enhanced functional
co-operation. That last objective recognized the need for more efficient operation of common services and intensified
activities in areas such as health, education, transportation and telecommunications.
In 2006, five years after the signing of the
Revised Treaty, the Single Market was
ushered in. Twelve of our fifteen Member
States form the Single Market, while Haiti
and Montserrat are working towards
putting it into place.

CARICOM VIEW

In the midst of these various transitions
in the wider Region, the Organisation of
Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), whose
Members are either Member States or
Associate Members of CARICOM, have
also been strengthening their integration
arrangements which were first codified
with the Treaty of Basseterre in 1981. In
many ways the OECS has moved beyond
CARICOM with the Revised Treaty of
Basseterre Establishing the OECS
Economic Union, signed in 2010, which
among other things has granted free
movement of persons within the Member
States. This is an integration group that
has had its own single currency and
institutions, such as its Central Bank,
Supreme Court and Stock Exchange. There
is much to be learnt from the progress
being made at the level of the OECS
which could assist the wider integration
effort.
WHERE ARE WE NOW
The framers of the revised Treaty in
crafting the elements of the CSME, also
sought to address some of the short
comings of the 1973 Treaty. An attempt
was made to move away from unanimity
in decision making; to establish a
rules-based system; the dispute settlement mechanism was strengthened and
the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) was
established as a means of ensuring the
rights and obligations under the Treaty
are observed.
The Caribbean Community rests on four
pillars, economic integration, human and
social development, security co-operation
and foreign policy co-ordination. All four
pillars are important elements within our
integration arrangements although the
Treaty focusses heavily on the creation of
a CARICOM Single Market and Economy
and even more so, on the market
dimensions of the CSME. The important
dimension of the services sector was
added. This was a clear recognition that
the regional economy is being oriented
more towards services while not minimising the continued importance of agriculture and other sectors. In that regard,
human resource development is crucial in
the exploitation of new opportunities
arising in the services sector.
While the Treaty creates or gives rise to

A publication of the Caribbean Community

certain Institutions of our Community
such as the CCJ, the CARICOM Competition Commission, the CARICOM Development Fund, CROSQ and CAHFSA,
CARICOM’s integration architecture is
not limited to those and consists of some
20 institutions. The Caribbean Development Bank and, as I mentioned before,
UWI, are an integral part of our Community. All of these institutions have an
important function in delivering on the
objectives of our Community.
Ladies and Gentlemen, these progressive
steps in regional integration have been
taken against a background of an
international system that has undergone
a number of profound changes over the
last two decades spawned by the process
of globalization, itself fuelled by free
trade, market liberalization and the
Information and Communications
Technology (ICT) revolution. These
systemic changes have resulted in
significant modifications to the contours
and functioning of the international
system and in fundamental shifts in the
global balance of power. These transformative changes pose challenges to the
continuing development of the Community. They also create opportunities that
can be exploited to our benefit.

For CARICOM, enhancing
competitiveness and expanding
trade are crucial for improving the
welfare of the Region. However,
small developing economies like
ours have structural and institutional
characteristics, which affect the
process of economic growth,
constrain their ability to compete
internationally, increase their
vulnerability to external events, and
limit their capacity for adjustment.
These include small population,
geographical dispersal, minimal
export diversification and
dependency upon very few export
markets, inadequate infrastructure,
low competitiveness, economic
rigidity with high adjustment costs,
high transport and transit costs, and
difficulties in attracting foreign
investment.

These constraints have been exacerbated
by the effects of the global economic and
financial crises on Caribbean economies.
The impact on CARICOM States is
represented by continuing sluggish
growth prospects and the challenges of –
a) Rising food prices;
b) A slump in demand for traditional
commodity exports;
c) Increasing unemployment rates,
especially among the youth;
d) A slowdown in foreign direct
investment flows;
e) Unpredictable remittance flows;
f) Rising debt and the inability to
effectively service the debt; and
g) Rising fiscal deficits.
Globally, several countries have
responded to the deteriorating economic
environment by introducing countercyclical fiscal policies. However, the ability
of CARICOM countries to apply such
policy measures is constrained by the lack
of fiscal space exacerbated by a severe
debt burden. CARICOM’s debt stock
currently stands at approximately US$19
billion, while the debt to GDP ratio ranges
from 60 to 144 per cent for our Member
States.
Debt servicing, particularly of external
debt which accounts for a major percentage of the total public sector debt,
continues to deprive CARICOM countries
of resources that could otherwise be
directed towards productive activities.
This debt situation is aggravated by the
diminution of the Region’s access to
concessionary financing because International Financial Institutions and the
Donor Community have insisted on using
GDP per capita as the sole criterion to
determine whether or not a country
qualifies for development support.
Through this concept of "graduation" or
"differentiation", most CARICOM
Member States, categorised as middle
income countries, are increasingly denied
access to concessionary funding and

...Continued on Pg 17

14

CARICOM VIEW

www.CARICOM.ORG

The melting pot of Regional culture was on display at
the Rededication Ceremony at the Chaguramas
Convention Centre, Chaguaramas on 4 July 2013.
Culinary Art at CARIFESTA 2013
in Suriname.

Performers at CARIFESTA 2013
in Suriname.

Dancers at CARIFESTA held in Suriname, August 2013

15

CARICOM VIEW

A publication of the Caribbean Community

The 34th Meeting of the Conference of CARICOM Heads of
Government, which coincided with the observance of the 40th
anniversary of the Community underway in Trinidad and Tobago, July
2013.

CARICOM Secretary-General,
Ambassador Irwin LaRocque
and General Counsel,
CARICOM Secretariat, Ms.
Safiya Ali, in discussion during
the 34th Meeting of the
Conference of Heads of
Government.

The Hon. Baldwin Spencer, Prime Minister of Antigua and
Barbuda, the Hon. Freundel Stuart, Prime Minister of
Barbados, His Excellency Donald Ramotar, President of
Guyana, the Hon. Ashni Singh, Minister of Finance of
Guyana, and the Hon. Robeson Benn, Minister of Public
Works of Guyana, in conversation during the Retreat of
Heads of Government in Trinidad and Tobago during the
34th Regular Summit in July 2013.

16

CARICOM VIEW

development assistance. The Community
has been lobbying actively for quite some
time against “graduation” solely based on
our relatively high per capita income
while ignoring the vulnerabilities which
face small economies such as ours.
It is clear that faced with those realities,
there is an imperative to come together,
rather than looking inward, to be better
able to meet those challenges. Our path to
regional development is premised on the
commitment by our Member States, to
promote initiatives aimed at achieving a
coordinated and strategic approach
through the pursuit of increasingly
coordinated policies and the combined
use of the resources and capacities of the
Region. Regional integration is the vehicle
that the Community has chosen to take
us along this path with the CSME as the
engine.
The ultimate goal of the CSME is the
creation of a single economic space
encompassing all Member States. It has
the following core regimes: free movement of skills, goods, services, and
capital, and the right of establishment. It
also includes abolition of exchange
controls, free convertibility of currencies,
an integrated capital market, convergence
of macro-economic policies, and harmonised company legislation. A critical
element is the harmonisation of laws and

www.CARICOM.ORG

administrative practices.
To date, a lot of attention has focussed on
the Single Market aspect of the CSME,
perhaps since one can readily discern
rights and obligations enshrined in the
Treaty and because it is the easier part of
creating a Single Market and Economy.
However, on the macro economic issues
of the Single Economy, at best, the Treaty
points to best endeavours. As we move
along the integration continuum from
Single Market to Single Economy – an
artificial distinction for purposes of
implementation – it impinges more and
more on national sovereignty and brings
into question governance issues and
possibly some sort of political integration.
The Single Development Vision adopted
in 2007, envisioned the completion of the
Single Economy by 2015. Once again the
Community had overreached in its
ambitions just as it had done at Grand
Anse in 1989, which had put the operation date of the CSME at 1993. The fact is
that the Revised Treaty was completed
and signed 12 years after Grand Anse and
the Single Market took a further five years
before becoming operational in 2006. We
set ourselves overambitious and unrealistic targets, which by their very nature,
doom us to apparent failure when they
are not met.

I am not suggesting that we set targets
that allow for a leisurely pace. The world
is not waiting on us. I am suggesting that
we set targets which take into account not
only the necessity and urgency of
achieving the goal but equally important,
what it takes to get there, and the
resources and capacity of the entire
Community to do so.
This is not to say that we have not made
progress in our economic integration
arrangements. All of the core regimes
under the Single Market are operating,
although work still needs to be done in
some areas. Additionally, regional policies
have been approved or are in progress in
areas such as, agriculture and food and
nutrition security, energy, industry, ICT
and security. Work has also commenced
on a policy with respect to small and
medium sized enterprises. We are fairly
well advanced on a regulatory framework
for Financial Services and an Investment
Code. These policies, once implemented
by Member States, will contribute to the
development of the respective sectors and
to improving their competitiveness.
However, the true test of the CSME is if it
has helped in solving the economic
problems of the Member States.

“I am not suggesting that we set
targets that allow for a leisurely
pace. The world is not waiting on us.
I am suggesting that we set targets
which take into account not only the
necessity and urgency of achieving
the goal but equally important, what
it takes to get there, and the
resources and capacity of the entire
Community to do so.”
We have begun a discussion on whether
the construct of the CSME addresses the
immediate concerns of Member States
and do we need to recalibrate and focus
more on the productive sector and
making our economies more competitive.
I am of the view that we do. We probably
have adopted a too theoretical model of
economic integration. Our regional
economists have long called for us to
focus on production integration and on
the competitiveness of our economies.

17

CARICOM VIEW

Production integration can only be
achieved through the full involvement of
a competitive private sector. To facilitate
the private sector involvement we must
address the ease of doing business across
borders and within the CSME, as a whole.
There is also an urgent need to strengthen
the institutional capacity of private sector
support organisations. These institutions
are vital to give the private sector a
cohesive voice at the table of decisionmaking in matters of interest to their
members.
In the final analysis, focus must be on
increasing production in order to generate
income and address the standard of living
in our various Member States. Key to
increasing production is agriculture,
export services and manufacturing. The
success of these sectors is of course
underpinned by affordable energy and
affordable and reliable transportation
services.
Ladies and Gentlemen as we forge ahead,
what has emerged over these first seven
years of the operations of the CSME is
that the Treaty, as it now exists, may be
limited as a tool to advance the integration movement and thus pass the test
mentioned above. The Treaty is basically
trade-based with insufficient attention
paid to the Single Economy. Whereas
there are clear obligations under the
Treaty with respect to the Single Market,
for the most part, the provisions relative
to the Single Economy can ideally be
described as best endeavours.
Further, the governing arrangements for
the CSME have become bureaucratic,
unwieldy and lethargic and we spend
more time and resources discussing the
same issues rather than making decisions
we can effectively implement. There is
need for more care and attention in the
decision-making process, including an
effective consultative mechanism.
I believe we have reached the stage where
we must ask fundamental questions about
the efficacy of the governance structures
outlined in the Treaty and of the Treaty
itself.
This issue is among the areas of priority

A publication of the Caribbean Community

being considered by the reconstituted
Inter Governmental Task Force which is
working towards making recommendations for further Revising the Treaty. Two
of the areas are Governance of the
Caribbean Community and Related Issues
and the Working Methods of the Various
Organs and Bodies of the Caribbean
Community. What we are seeking to do is
build the regional architecture for
integration to ensure that it helps in the
growth and development of Member
States and has an impact on the lives of
our citizens.

Community Institutions established to
assist in the development of the Community.

The bedrock of our governance arrangements is that we are a Community of
Sovereign States, as stated a decade ago in
the Rose Hall Declaration of 2003. With
that in mind, the fundamental issue is
how to balance that reality against the
need for an effective system of governance to allow for efficient and timely
implementation of decisions.

ACHIEVEMENTS AND WORK IN
PROGRESS

Over the years, ideas have surfaced in this
regard, particularly after the 1992 report
of the West Indian Commission, “Time
For Action”. That report suggested a
system of Commissioners empowered to
enforce decisions. Latterly, the idea of a
Permanent Committee of CARICOM
Ambassadors, comprising individuals of
sufficient rank and influence to drive the
implementation process at the national
level, has been put forward.
That concept envisages each Member
State establishing a Regional Integration
Unit, headed by an Ambassador who
would be the country’s representative on
the Committee. The OECS Commission is
fashioned broadly along similar lines and
presents an opportunity for us to observe
the workings of such an arrangement.
While the Committee of Ambassadors
may not be the ideal option, it is the best
we can possibly achieve in the short term
under the current circumstances.
However, the issue of some form of
supranational authority must be kept
alive.
In that context, key to the functioning of
any such authority is the role of the
Secretary-General, the Secretariat and

18

Already in place to ensure certainty in the
interpretation and application of the
Treaty’s provisions is the Caribbean Court
of Justice (CCJ) in its original jurisdiction. The Court, in its early judgements,
has cemented the Community’s rulesbased system, engendered a level of
confidence and occasioned a shift in the
way business is done in the Region’s
Councils.

Ladies and Gentlemen, one of the
unintended side effects of the concentration on trade and economic aspects of our
integration movement has been the
tendency to judge the success of the
entire movement by the efforts in those
areas. Indeed in some quarters, the
effectiveness of CARICOM is judged on
issues related to the movement of
persons or merchandise trade balances.
This view is at odds even with the
economic reality, given the important
contribution that trade in services is
making to the Region. While these issues
need to be addressed, it is unfortunate
that these are the criteria often used in
the court of public opinion, since so much
else has been achieved in the past 40
years. It has also had the effect of
minimising the important role of human
and social development in our societies.
There have been several notable achievements in this area.
In recognition of the importance of
Health to the development of our
Community, the Heads of Government
set up the Caribbean Commission on
Health and Development under the
leadership of the Chancellor of this
University, the Honourable Sir George
Alleyne, OCC. The Commission’s report in
2007, made the point that “a healthy
population is an essential prerequisite for
the economic growth and stability of the
Caribbean” and stressed the importance
of health to achieving the goals of
economic development as enunciated in
our Treaty.

CARICOM VIEW

The serious implications of
non-communicable diseases (NCDs) were
pointed out by the Commission which
identified one Member State in which the
combined cost of dealing with diabetes
and hypertension, two of the NCDs,
amounted to more than US$58 million
annually, an indication of the economic
burden that these diseases place on our
countries. It was due to leadership by
CARICOM, that the ravages of the NCDs
commanded global attention and action,
prompting a UN High Level Forum on the
issue in 2011.
In order to efficiently address the public
health concerns of the Region, five
regional agencies were amalgamated to
form the Caribbean Public Health Agency
(CARPHA). CARPHA will, among other
things, address the surveillance and
management of communicable and
Non-Communicable Diseases and public
health response to disasters,. This week,
the Agency is facing its first test with the
outbreak of H1N1 in at least three
countries.
Faced with the threat posed by HIV/Aids
to our Region, and the youth population
in particular, the Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP),
established by CARICOM in 2001, has
made a critical impact on reversing and
stabilizing the spread of the AIDS
epidemic in the Caribbean. The Caribbean
also stands to be the first region in the
world to eliminate mother-to-child
transmission of HIV by 2015. This is
largely due to its unique governance
arrangements, for which it was designated
a UN Best Practice in 2004.
The Caribbean Examinations Council
(CXC), an institution of our Community,
celebrating its 40th anniversary this year,
continues to provide regionally and
internationally recognised examinations
and curricula relevant to the needs of the
Region, among a raft of education
services. Some of their innovative
methods have been studied and
introduced in third countries.
Beyond academics, the Community has
developed the Caribbean Vocational
Qualification (CVQ) to establish

www.CARICOM.ORG

standards and to provide our artisans and
tradespersons with a qualification
recognised throughout the Community.
In order to better position the Region to
be more competitive, emphasis is placed
on developing quality human resources
through the provision of technical and
vocational training to provide the
requisite skills that would satisfy the
demands of the workplace. The CVQ has
the potential to ensure that the Community has available to it, a regional pool of
certified skilled persons.

interest and action among youth, and to
increase livelihood opportunities and
employability for economically and
socially marginalized youth.

It puts the opportunities of the CSME
within reach of many, given its inclusion
in the free movement of skills regime in
certain specified fields. It gives the lie to
those who contend that the movement of
skills is reserved for the elite.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Youth of our
Community deserve special attention.
Following the Report of a CARICOM
Commission on Youth Development in
2010, a five-year CARICOM Youth
Development Action Plan (CYDAP) has
been created to give expression to the six
CARICOM Youth Development Goals
which underpin the Paramaribo Declaration on the future of youth in the
Community. The Commission on Youth
Development was established by Heads of
Government, and following consultations
with youths throughout the Community,
provided a full scale analysis of the
challenges and opportunities for youth in
the CSME and made recommendations on
how to improve their well-being and
empowerment.
The Action Plan spans the areas of:
education and economic empowerment;
universal access to secondary education
by 2016; reshaping of national education
policies to reflect the life cycle approach
to learning; and the establishment of
integrated programmes providing
employability skills, transition skills and
entrepreneurial skills for youth in and out
of school.
The Secretariat is collaborating with the
CARICOM Youth Ambassadors and
Development Partners to engage,
motivate and inspire entrepreneurial

19

Musicians at CARPHA launch

The Youth of our Region is making a
significant contribution in the areas of
sports, music and culture in particular, all
of which contribute to employment and
development of our regional economy.
The Region does have a comparative
advantage in culture, due to our acknowledged creativity for which we are known
and respected internationally. Culture is
central to the promotion of regional
identity and unity, and an important
component in the regional integration
construct. One way that the people of the
Region will feel connected and â&#x20AC;&#x153;intensely
Caribbean,â&#x20AC;? with a strong sense of
community and identity, is by unleashing
creative and cultural appreciation,
imagination and production.

CARICOM VIEW

The diversification of Caribbean
economies through these innovative,
indigenous industries should be viewed as
an indispensable component of any
development strategy to assist Member
States to make the necessary adjustments
to survive in this globalised environment.
The cultural and creative industries
therefore present significant opportunity
for building competitive export industries
using local talents and resources. We now
have a Regional Development Strategy
and Action Plan for the Cultural Industries.

A publication of the Caribbean Community

In response to the increasing frequency
and intensity of natural disasters in our
Community, we established a mechanism
to co-ordinate preparedness for and relief
in the event of a natural disaster, through
the Caribbean Disaster Emergency
Management Agency (CDEMA). Their
Comprehensive Disaster Management
System has proven its value both in the
preparation for disasters and in the
aftermath with its co-ordination of relief
efforts.
To strengthen relief efforts we have also

created the first multi-country disaster
insurance scheme in the world, through
the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance
Facility (CCRIF). This is a not-for-profit
entity, owned, operated and registered in
the Caribbean for Caribbean governments. It has been able to limit the
financial impact of some catastrophic
natural disasters to Caribbean governments, by quickly providing short-term
liquidity when a policy is triggered.
Well before climate change became a
global issue, our Community began to

(from left): CARICOM Secretary-General, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque,
The Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas, Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis and
Lead Head of Government with responsibility for Human Resource Development, Health and HIV/AIDS,
and Dr. James Hospedales, Executive Director of CARPHA at the launch of CARPHA.

20

CARICOM VIEW

address the need to mitigate the effects of
and adapt to this phenomenon. Through
the work of the Caribbean Community
Climate Change Centre (CCCCC), the
Community has become very influential
in the global response to climate change,
including in the formation of the Climate
Fund. The work of the Centre in providing
climate change-related policy advice and
guidelines to CARICOM Member States
has been outstanding, so much so that
the Centre has also been identified as a
best practice internationally and now
lends advice and assistance to other

www.CARICOM.ORG

threatened regions.
In the area of Foreign Policy
co-ordination, CARICOM has demonstrated that its influence in international
affairs has far exceeded its size. Our
experience has shown that when we act in
concert, our collective voice in the
international community is greater than
the sum of its parts. Another element of
this co-ordination is securing the election
of CARICOM candidates for positions in
international organisations in order to
influence the international agenda.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Youth of our Region
is making a significant
contribution in the areas
of sports, music and
culture in particular, all of
which contribute to
employment and
development of our
regional economy.â&#x20AC;?

21

We have seen the fruits of such an
approach in recent times through the
promotion of NCDs and the plight of
Small Highly Indebted Middle Income
Countries among others, put on the table
by CARICOM, as major components for
consideration in the Post 2015 Development Agenda. The leading role played by
CARICOM in advocating for the Arms
Trade Treaty at the UN, was because of
our deep concern about the prevalent use
of firearms by criminals in our society.
It was also CARICOM which led the way

CARICOM VIEW

for the recognition of small and vulnerable economies as a group within the
World Trade Organisation.
Additionally, the Community used its
leverage to have the International Civil
Aviation Organisation adopt the community of interest principle under which a
country belonging to a grouping such as
CARICOM, and which has no airline of its
own, could designate an airline of another
member of the grouping to use its route
rights in the conclusion of air services
agreements. That has been of inestimable
value to airlines based in the Region.
We are therefore seeing that our foreign
policy co-ordination can be used to
address regional and national problems.
Our increasing co-ordination in foreign
policy has resulted in the recognition of
CARICOM as an international actor. This
recognition has led to an increasing
number of states seeking closer ties with
the Community. Last May was the latest
example of this reality when, within the
space of a week, the President of China
and the Vice President of the United
States both came to Trinidad and Tobago
to meet with regional leaders.
To make optimum use of such opportunities, the Community has established and
identified the basic principles as well as
the operational modalities to inform the
conduct of its foreign policy coordination.
One of the fundamental principles is that
the pursuit of our development goals and
interests must shape our external
outreach. Also of importance, is that in
today’s fast paced and globalized world,
foreign relations are no longer the
preserve of Foreign Ministries. Community foreign policy coordination therefore
requires the harmonisation of messages
and policies at the national level between
Foreign Ministries and line ministries.
I have taken time to illustrate some of the
achievements and some of the issues that
we are working on as a Community. They
show that he pooling of our skills and
resources to bring about improvements in
our circumstances and the lives of our
citizens stands as testimony to the
benefits of integration.

A publication of the Caribbean Community

THE CHALLENGES
Ladies and Gentlemen, notwithstanding
our achievements, of which I am proud,
and plans, there are serious challenges
which need to be addressed if we are to
move the integration process forward and
make it more meaningful to the people of
our Community. Some of these
challenges include,
• sustainable economic growth;
• transportation;
• hassle free travel;
• the high cost of energy; and
• equitable distribution of the beneﬁts
of integration, which if not adequately
addressed could lead to discontent.
As we move to address those challenges,
we must reach to the realisation that our
national growth and development is
inextricably tied to regional growth and
development. Regional policies and
national policies must be so intertwined
as to be almost indiscernible. It is in that
actualisation that our citizens will feel
most acutely, that sense of being part of a
Community.
THE FUTURE
A major realisation in going forward is
that the current and future situation
demand that we change our modus
operandi and crucially, the way we think
about integration. Once again we are at
another juncture in the progression of our
regional integration movement.
Our capacity to respond to the various
challenges and to exploit such opportunities as they may bring, depend in
significant measure, on the extent to
which our arrangements can be strengthened. It will require first of all consistent
and positive engagement in the areas
selected for priority action; secondly,
effective decision-making machinery; and
thirdly, the capacity to deliver.
Instituting change is never easy and is
more difficult if it is attempted in the face
of entrenched attitudes and structures.
That notwithstanding, the Community is
engaged in a three year reform process
that encompasses every facet of its
operations. In short we are changing the
way we do business. Heads of Govern-

22

ment agreed in March 2012 that since
‘form followed function’, it was necessary
to re-examine the future direction of the
Community and the arrangements for
carrying this forward. This includes the
role and function of the CARICOM
Secretariat and the Institutions of the
Community.
A Change Facilitation Team has been
recruited to assist me with this process of
change. The Team is currently undertaking consultations in Member States on
the first ever Strategic Plan for the
Community. These country Consultations
provide an opportunity for nationals of
each Member State and Associate
Member to influence the strategic
direction of the Community, their
Community, our Community. The five
year Strategic Plan will set out a common
vision and identify our priority areas of
focus over the period.
Critically, it will also address issues of
implementability including the roles and
responsibilities of all participants in the
Community architecture: namely the
Conference of Heads of Government; the
Ministerial Councils; the Bodies, such as
the Committee of Central Bank Governors
and the Budget Committee; the
CARICOM Secretariat; and the Institutions; as well as issues of governance,
institutional and operational arrangements and monitoring and evaluation
mechanisms.
The Consultations on the Strategic Plan
are not starting with a blank slate. They
are drawing on approved policies and
programmes as a starting point. These
include the 2007 Single Development
Vision; the Strategic Plan for Regional
Economic Development, on which there
was close collaboration between the
Secretariat and UWI; the priorities
articulated by Heads of Government
themselves at their retreat held in Guyana
in May 2011; and approved policies and
action plans in a range of areas, such as
agriculture, energy, industry, security,
health, youth, ICT and Climate Change,
to name a few. These policies and
programmes are then taken in the context
of the rapidly changing global environment that impacts our Member States, to
chart the way forward.

CARICOM VIEW

With eight consultations complete,
common themes are emerging. Included
among these are:
• The need to address economic
recovery and growth as a core strategy
over the next ﬁve years;
• The need to strengthen governance
and decision-making arrangements,
beginning with the Heads of Government Conference, to secure a more
eﬀective Community;
• The need to solve the challenges with
inter-regional transport, the free
movement of persons including hassle
free travel, as critical success factors
for regional integration;
• The need to secure the Region’s
future through targeted interventions
in agriculture for food security, energy
security, education, health and ICT;
• The need to re-ignite the ﬁre of
regionalism among our Caribbean
people, through shared understanding
and building of a sense of Community;
• The need to communicate fully and
consistently with the people on the
issues of integration; and
• The need to embrace and optimise the
diversity of the people and Member
States that lend to our strength as a
uniﬁed Region.
As indicated, some of the sectoral issues
had already been identified by Heads of
Government as critical areas and appear
in some form in the national plans of
most Member States.
It is clear from the consultations, that the
people of CARICOM remain committed to
realising the potential of our integration
movement, our single but diversified
space, and even eventually our “United
States of the Caribbean” as it has been
described in some of the consultations.
On the basis of the Strategic Plan, the
review and restructuring of the Secretariat, and indeed Organs and Institutions
of CARICOM, will be addressed to enable
the construct to deliver in a much more

www.CARICOM.ORG

focussed and effective manner to the
people of the Community.

This reform process is central
to the future of the integration
movement and Prime Minister
Anthony’s call for a “big
conversation” could not be
more timely. It would be, he
said, an opportunity to chart a
new paradigm for growth,
review the role and
performance of our regional
institutions to determine how
they can help in these times
and better assist us to restore
growth to our economies.”

That big conversation has begun and as a
former Prime Minister of this country
said in calling for the establishment of
the West Indian Commission, “let all
ideas contend.” It affords an opportunity,
for example, for a new generation of
intellectuals from UWI, and other
universities and organisations in the
Region, to offer their views and prescriptions.
In such a conversation, voices from our
civil society must be heard as the call for
participatory governance in the consultations is a clear sign that the top down
form of integration will not be accepted
by our people.
In joining that conversation we must be
prepared to examine every aspect,
principle and underlying philosophy that
has guided this integration movement.
Should we seek to widen our fold and
embrace more of our Caribbean neighbours or should we concentrate on
deepening our arrangements? Can we
achieve both at the same time? What are
the implications for the Single Market as
we forge ahead, as we must, with trade
arrangements with Third States? Should
sanctions be introduced as a means of
enforcing compliance with Treaty

23

provisions and decisions? What are the
most appropriate governance arrangements which we must put in place in
order for us to realise our full potential as
a Community? And what would be the
implications for such governance
arrangements in a widened Community?
These questions and others must form
part of the introspection that admittedly
has as its fundamental premise, that
regional integration is the basis for
national development.
VISION
Ladies and Gentlemen, two years and six
weeks ago, I assumed the position of
Secretary-General of the Caribbean
Community expressing in my inaugural
statement that “while there was cynicism
in some cases, a common thread was a
commitment and belief in our integration
movement, as well as hope for change.” I
said then, it was a hope as SecretaryGeneral I would strive to fuel. That hope
is what guides my long term vision for
our Community. It is also guided by the
optimism and enthusiasm for CARICOM,
by our youth in particular. It has been
heartening and humbling to experience,
at first hand, in my interaction with the
young people in every Member State that
I have visited, their desire for integration
and their impatience for it to become a
lived experience. I have witnessed at first
hand, what Prime Minister Anthony
referred to, as the integrating power of
the people across our Region.
Primarily, it would be a Community in
which all are involved. There would be a
system of meaningful consultations from
which a free flow of ideas emanate,
allowing for the distillation of the best
and most practical. This would help to
capture the imagination and interest of all
and allow the people to seize a stake in
the integration process - allowing for the
sense of being Caribbean to take precedence over all else.
It would also lead to more efficient
implementation of decisions having had
the benefit of the widest possible input.
It would be a Community in which
regional plans and policies are harmon-

CARICOM VIEW

ised with national plans and policies. The
national would become regional and the
regional national.
We would have deepened the integration
process, with a single economic space a
reality, and a closer convergence of
economic policies.
Ideally those issues that are important to
the people of the Community would have
been resolved. I speak here of hassle free
travel, free movement, currency convertibility, and contingent rights. We have to
create a Community in which the people
have tangible proof that integration is
working for them and that their domestic
space extends from Belize in the west to
Barbados in the east, from Suriname in
the south to The Bahamas in the north
and all in between.

A publication of the Caribbean Community

This would mean being able to travel
freely, change their currency and have the
families who move, treated to all intents
and purposes, as citizens of their adopted
country.
To achieve such goals we must frankly
discuss and resolve the concerns of all
Member States. These concerns are real as
it relates to free movement in particular.
I would like to see our foreign policy
co-ordination strengthened as a means of
achieving our development goals.
I would like to see the CCJ embraced by
all Member States, in both its jurisdictions, as a step towards completing the
circle of sovereignty for the Region.

I would like to see a single
CARICOM ICT Space, in
which a telephone call from
Port of Spain to Kingston is a
local call and broadband is
ubiquitous and easily
accessible to all.
I would like to see a
community that has achieved
sustainable growth and
development, where there is
confidence and belief in
where we can go, and what
we can achieve together,
where its institutions are seen
as reliant and integral to
achieving our goal of a
Community for all.
I intend to deliver a Secretariat
that is strategic in outlook and
efficient, effective and
responsive in serving the
needs of its Member States
and providing leadership to
the integration arrangements.
I would like to see, a
Community therefore, that
makes maximum use of its
human resources, technology,
international relations and
secures the commitment of all
its citizens to the integration
process.
The task is ours to make this
integration movement so
much a lived experience that
our natural state becomes one
of unity. It is a task to which I
have dedicated myself and
invite you to join me.

“… Trade is after all the ‘bread and butter’ of the Common Market and
it is vital for proper understanding of the working and development of the
Common Market that accurate and up-to-date information be available
on the transactions taking place between Member Countries…”

T

he above quotation by a former
Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community, Sir Alister
McIntyre provides the backdrop
to the historical context and importance
of trade statistics in CARICOM. The need
for trade statistics has its basis in the
efforts at economic integration in its
different forms with a key aim being to
improve intra-CARICOM trade flows. In
what follows the story of trade statistics
is depicted within the context of the
economic integration agenda, starting
with the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA)-1968-72; the Caribbean
Community and Common Market from
1973-2005 and the CARICOM Single
Market and Economy (CSME) from 2006
to the present.
While the West Indian Federation was the
first effort at establishing a union among
ten islands of the British Caribbean the
focus then was more on a political rather
than an economic union and therefore the
issue of free trade was not explicitly
among its objectives.
One of the earliest efforts aimed at
economic integration of the Commonwealth Caribbean countries was the
Caribbean Free Trade Area (CARIFTA)
which was established in 1968 with 11
countries. CARIFTA was therefore the
early context for the compilation of trade
data since specifically, CARIFTA was
intended to encourage balanced development of the Region including:
• Increasing trade- buying and selling
more goods among the Member States;

• Diversifying trade – expanding the
variety of goods and services available for
trade;
In addition to providing for free trade the
CARIFTA Agreement also sought to
ensure that the benefits of free trade were
equitably distributed; promoting industrial development in the LDCs; the
development of the coconut industry,
which was significant in many Less
Developed Countries (LDCs); and
providing for a longer period for the
phasing out of Customs duty on certain
products that were important revenue
earners to LDCs. The monitoring of
CARIFTA therefore required statistics and
in particular trade data. Production data
on Oils and Fats also used to be
monitored routinely by the CARICOM
Secretariat.
1960 to the 1970’s
The first digest of trade statistics of
Member States of CARICOM, which was
produced in 1976, represented efforts by
the Secretariat spanning several years, to
produce “estimates of the flow and
pattern of intra-CARICOM” trade. The
time period for this first digest was 1960
to 1974. It was stated that the information published in the first digest of trade
statistics would have served to correct
misunderstandings about intra-CARICOM
trade performance. The sources of data
were the trade publications as well as
unpublished data provided by the
National Statistical Offices (NSOs) of
Member States.
The choice of time period of the first

25

digest (1960 to1974) was to provide a
long enough series before and after the
establishment of CARIFTA in 1968. While
the stated purpose of this first digest was
to present trade statistics on intraCARICOM trade, in fact there were tables
on Total trade for the period 1960-1974
for CARICOM countries including:
Balance of Trade, Imports and Domestic
Exports by Country, by SITC Section and
by selected Trading Partners; Percentage
Distribution of Imports and Exports by
country and by SITC Section. Total Trade
data (disaggregated) for individual
countries were also provided including by
SITC Section. There were similar tables for
intra-CARICOM including, in this case, a
matrix or network of imports (exports)
among countries.
It was noticeable then and now that
Trinidad and Tobago was the dominant
exporter in intra-CARICOM trade on
average for the period 1960-1970, the
bulk of its exports being the same,
Mineral Fuels, Lubricants and related
materials. Guyana was the leading
intra-CARICOM importer on average for
this same period followed by Jamaica and
Trinidad and Tobago. Intra-regional
imports stood at 5.9 percent of total
imports and intra-regional exports
accounted for 6.8 percent of total exports
in 1960.
Relative to total trade, the balance of
trade was always in deficit for all years at
the CARICOM level with our dominant
trading partner for our imports changing
between the United Kingdom (UK) and
the United States of America for the

CARICOM VIEW

period of data, and with the Latin
American Free Trade Area running a close
third for some years. On the exports side,
the USA and the UK also dominated.
Apart from 1960 when machinery and
transport equipment were the major
commodities imported overall for
CARICOM, in the period up to 1970,
mineral fuels, lubricants and related
materials were the principal commodities
imported followed by machinery,
transport equipment and food in that
order. With regard to domestic exports,
the dominant commodities were mineral
fuels, lubricants, food and crude materials
inedible except fuel.
1973 to the early 80’s
The Caribbean Community and Common
Market came into effect in April 1973 in
Georgetown, Guyana, starting with
Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad
and Tobago. The Accord which was agreed
to in April 1973 contained the draft
treaty which is now known as the Treaty
of Chaguaramas. By 2002, the membership stood at fifteen with the last Member
State to join being Haiti. One of the key
objectives of the Community was
economic integration of the Member
States by the establishment of the
Common Market. The objective on
economic integration included the
following aim in part:
“…strengthening coordination and regulation
of the economic and trade relations among
Member in order to promote their accelerated, harmonious and balanced development…”
In 1974, the Common Market Council
that came into being under the Treaty in
1973, in turn established the Standing
Committee of Caribbean Statisticians
(SCCS):
“…to foster increased recognition of the
importance of statistical services to the
countries of the region; to widen the scope
and coverage of statistical data collection;
and to improve the quality, comparability
and timeliness of statistics produced…”
The CARICOM Secretariat continued
collecting trade data on an annual basis
during the period of the 80’s from
Member States in whatever formats the
Member States could supply- reports or
final tabulations, in order to fulfill the

A publication of the Caribbean Community

requirements of compiling a regional
trade report. There were many interventions made in meetings including at the
highest level of the Community on the
need to develop and improve trade
statistics in order to enable improvement
in the availability of trade statistics for
the monitoring of the economic integration process.
A lot of the data submitted by countries
were provisional and the task of collating
the report entailed the manual addition of
the data across categories such as the
sections of the Standard Industrial Trade
Classification (SITC), since, in many cases,
no totals were provided. In response to
the mandates given by the Conference of
Heads of Government and the Common
Market Council, proposals for a regional
trade monitoring system were prepared
by the Secretariat and the SCCS, which
included the extraction of data at the
most detailed level on imports, exports
and re-exports from the administrative
and legal documents of the Customs
departments, identifying country of
origin, country of destination, description
and customs tariff classification number,
quantity and f.o.b. value for each item.
This was to be undertaken on a monthly
basis.
The CARICOM Secretariat was tasked
with the preparation of Regional aggregates based on data received by Member
States and with dispatching these
Regional aggregates to Member States
within six weeks of the end of each
month.
With regard to the proposals presented
on the statistical monitoring system for
trade flows, it was recognised that the
responsibility for producing timely
information on intra-regional trade
resided in the statistical offices. It was
also noted that statistical offices required
additional resources if they were to
administer the trade monitoring system.
Further, in the administration of the
system at the national level, statistical
offices required the cooperation and
assistance of the certifying authorities.
Thus the arrangements for the system to
monitor trade flows were conceptualised.
Amidst these efforts to improve the
monitoring of trade flows, a second digest
of trade statistics for the period 1970 to
1980 was produced in 1983, based on

26

data submitted to the Regional office by
Member States.
1984 to the early 1990s
The proposed system for monitoring trade
flows and its implications for customs
administrations were examined by the
Ninth (9th) Meeting of the Customs
Committee in October 1984. It was
agreed that customs administrations
would pass to national statistical
authorities, copies of the Certificate of
Origin and supporting invoices. It was
also agreed that the customs administrations would indicate on the shipping bills
for intra-regional exports those instances
where the goods qualified for Common
Market treatment.
The national statistical offices also felt
that it was impossible to provide the data
within the next week of the end of each
month as recommended in the system
approved by Council and that a time lag
of one or two months was more feasible.
It was agreed that there was need for
timely data to monitor intra-regional
trade flows and delegates present
re-iterated their commitment to producing such data.
Best Practice during the 80’s
The sharing of the copies of the Certificate
of Origin/Shipping Bills and related
invoices can be described as a defining
moment in the compilation of trade
statistics. National Statistical Offices
(NSOs) need to obtain data from two
main sources – statistical surveys and
administrative data sources. Over the
years, NSOs have experienced (and still
do) difficulties in accessing the data from
key administrative sources such as
income tax data for the compilation of
National Accounts. The CARICOM
Secretariat has recently executed a project
activity on a Common Framework for
Statistics Production, a component of
which focused on the production of a
Model Statistics Bill to inform the
collection of data in an integrated
statistical system. Funded by the
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB),
one of the key inclusions in the Model Bill
pertained to access of information from
government and other agencies for
statistical purposes. The decision made so
many years ago to share administrative
data with the NSOs for statistical
purposes can only be described as an

CARICOM VIEW

outstanding practice in the history of
statistical data collection, since it meant
that the Statistical agencies were able to
have access to copies of legal documents
for the purposes of compiling and
monitoring trade flows.

Importance of Intra-regional TradeChallenges

Intra-regional trade statistics remained
on the agenda of various Community
Meetings for several years, including
meetings of the Conference of Heads of
Government (1984); SCCS meetings (all)
and meetings of the Common Market
Council at which a report on the performance of intra-regional trade was
consistently presented in the 80’s and
90’s. Meetings of Statisticians, Customs
Officials and Trade Experts (STECO) also
had trade statistics on their agenda.
At the Thirty-Seventh Meeting of the
Common Market Council (Council), 1991,
Council noted the action taken by the
Secretariat to improve the preparation
and production of product level statistics
in the Region. Further, at the ThirtyNinth Meeting of Council in 1993, the
Secretariat presented a paper entitled
Performance of Intra-regional Trade:
January to December 1991. The Meeting
was informed that the analysis of the
performance of intra-regional trade for
the year 1991, as outlined in the paper,
was based on the trade data supplied to
the Secretariat by Member States, as well
as estimates made by the Secretariat of
the trade for those Member States which
had not yet produced their trade data for
the full year.
The Secretariat representative stressed
the limitations faced with respect to the
availability of the requisite data. It was
also explained that the introduction of
the Common External Tariff (CET) by
eight Member States at different points in
time during 1991, and the use throughout
that year of different versions of the
classification system by four Member
States which had not introduced the CET,
made comparability of the data at the
item level particularly difficult. Council
called upon Member States to ensure the
timely submission of data to the Secretariat at the detailed item level in respect
of intra-regional and extra-regional trade.

www.CARICOM.ORG

1990’s to the present
Moving from the Common Market to the
CARICOM Single Market and Economy
(CSME), the fundamental objective of the
CSME is to achieve a single economic
space that will foster growth and will
result in sustained development of the
standard of living of all Caribbean
peoples. The Single Market was established in 2006 and comprises all Member
States except The Bahamas, Montserrat
and Haiti. Key elements of the CSME are:
Free Movement of Capital, Labour,
Goods, the Provision of Services and the
Right of Establishment within Member
States of the CSME.
Underscoring the functioning of the
CSME and improving of the standard of
living of the peoples of the Community is
the vital role of statistical information in
guiding and monitoring the progress of
the integration movement. Given that the
CSME is also about the free movement of
goods, the analysis of the performance of
intra-regional trade continues to be a
critical element on which statistics are to
be collected and disseminated.

Compilation of Trade Statistics at the
Secretariat and data quality –then and
now

The task involved in the compilation and
dissemination of the first Regional trade
digest which was published in 1976, must
have been an enormous one given that it
was in an era where the use of Information Technology (IT) was mainly absent.
Adding machines and calculators were the
main means used by the Secretariat to
collate the information received. What is
known about the approach to the
compilation and the production of that
report is that the sources of data were the
trade publications as well as unpublished
data provided by the National Statistical
Offices (NSOs) of Member States.
Some countries did not provide summary
tables and these had to be meticulously
compiled from detailed listings from the
trade reports and computer printouts.
This compilation was particularly required
for collating the data on total/intraCARICOM trade by SITC Section. It was
also the case that the totals that were
manually collated by SITC Section within
a country differed from the summary
totals where these were available. Efforts

27

had to be made to reconcile the discrepancies where possible or if not, to simply use
the totals obtained from collating the
detailed data.
The approach was to compile summary
matrices by SITC Section, by Trading
Partners for each country and year and
then to aggregate to show the picture for
CARICOM. This would have to be done for
Total trade as well as for Intra-CARICOM
trade. Tables called Network (matrix)
showing for intra-CARICOM trade the
relationship of importing/exporting
countries of CARICOM were also
prepared.
With the advent of IT and its use in
Member States and at the Secretariat, the
system of compiling the data would have
made use of the new technologies.
However, the real impact of the use of IT
at the Secretariat in compiling a regional
trade information system was not felt
until the early 90’s. In 1994/95, the
Secretariat obtained the services of a
Consultant to prepare a data processing
system based on dBase IV for the
processing of trade data received from
Member States. This change enabled the
submission of data on electronic media
based on the processing at the country
level using in-house software packages or
Eurotrace software. Paper submissions
were still made by countries in some
instances.
A computerized system of processing of
the submitted trade data at the Secretariat was therefore established. Gradually, the electronic submission of data
became more organized and a format was
established for the submission of the
data. However, it was the case that some
countries did not adhere to the format
and time had to be spent to correct this
issue prior to the electronic processing of
the data. Validation of the data was still
necessary with queries being referred to
Member States.
In the main, countries initially used
in-house packages on mainframe computers to process and compile their trade
data, and it still entailed the printing of
computer printouts of tabulations that
had to be verified. The system of data
capture by the Customs Department also

CARICOM VIEW

changed with the introduction of the
Automated System of Customs Data
(ASYCUDA) around the early 1990’s. At
the same time countries of the OECS
sub-region had commenced the installation of the Eurotrace software for
processing the data received from the
Customs Department. For example, in the
case of Dominica, Eurotrace was installed
in March 1992, with ASYCUDA being
installed one month earlier in the
Customs Department of that Member
State.
There were several problems with the data
that became available from the ASYCUDA
System including: the absence of data
from out-stations (outside of the main
Customs office) and which therefore had
to be entered; incorrect dates for these
late/outside entries; inconsistencies in
the identification of numbers entered in
the automated system and that used to
process the declaration; values entered for
some elements were erroneous e.g. net
weight. Recommendations were made on
data integrity relative to the data entered
in the ASYCUDA system as well as for
training in specific software to allow for
the treatment of queries by the data
processing officer in order to improve the
data quality. In the early 1990s, therefore,
countries commenced submitting trade
data on electronic devices. In fact, in
1993, while many countries submitted
reports or computer printouts with
tabulations, Barbados and St Kitts and
Nevis submitted their trade data on
diskettes.
The difficulties identified in the production of the first digest on trade statistics
included differences in definitions,
coverage, and in the reliability and
availability of up-to-date information.
There were also differences due to the
version of the international classification
(Standard Industrial Trade ClassificationSITC) used across countries. Additionally,
there were missing data for some
countries for specific years which would
have resulted in totals across time that
would not have been comparable, and
there were differences in the system of
trade used - General versus the Special
system - with implications for coverage of
trade data captured as imports/exports.

A publication of the Caribbean Community

Some (if not all) of the above challenges
still affect the compilation of Regional
trade statistics today and impact data
quality including timeliness. In the
mid-90s, some of the challenges experienced by countries included the following:
• Additional work required by NSOs
resulting from the CET (based on the
Harmonised Commodity and Description
Coding System –HS);
• The implementation of the CET at
varying points in times during the year
rather than at the beginning of the year;
• Inadequate computer hardware and
software to process the data;
• Lack of adequate staﬀ capability in most
of the smaller statistical offices to cope
with the additional work load;
• Delays in adapting to the computerized
system for processing the data collected
based on revisions of the HS-based CET;
• Eﬀect of teething problems relative to
the implementation of the ASYCUDA and
Eurotrace systems.
Challenges with the production of trade
data by Member States continued
throughout the years. At the end of 1996,
only two countries, Barbados and Belize,
had full-year data for the previous year,
1995. However, there was marked
improvement in the availability of trade
data at the end of 1997, with nine
countries with full year data for 1996 by
October 1997. Support to the development of trade data was provided by the
CARICOM Secretariat to four countries,
three of which were included in the nine
countries that were able to provide the
1996 trade data. Compared to today, in
2011, six countries submitted data at the
stated timeline (April) and by July 12, 13
countries submitted their trade data. The
country which did not submit was
experiencing problems due to issues
pertaining to the updating of the system
of trade data capture by the Customs
Department leading to errors in the data
collected.
The novelty of the New Eurotrace

28

software implied that further upgrading
was required to eliminate some of the
“bugs” it contained. In addition, changes
in the system of data capture by the
Customs Department, the main source of
data at the national level, may have
resulted in some problems relative to the
smooth transfer of data into the New
Eurotrace system. Countries are
supported by the Secretariat or through
South-South co-operation in resolving
these challenges.
However, further support through
technical assistance and training is
planned under the Tenth European
Development Fund (EDF) provided by the
European Union. While some countries in
the spirit of competition strive to be the
first to submit their trade data to the
Secretariat, there are still challenges in
the timeliness of the data submitted
partly due to processing issues with the
New Eurotrace or compatibility issues of
the trade systems - Customs and the
NSOs consequent to the upgrading of the
former as explained above.
A key challenge in the past has been the
introduction of the Common External
Tariff (CET) in the 90’s, relative to the
slow pace of implementation which
implied that over the period of implementation, the data would not have been
comparable across countries, and, of
course, the impact on the intended results
of Regional integration. Additionally, the
international Classification of the World
Customs Organisation, the Harmonised
Commodity and Description Coding
System (HS) - which is used by the
Customs Department for trade data
capture - is subject to revisions over time
which poses unique challenges relative to
the timing of implementation, even now.
For analytical purposes, the SITC is often
the choice used or requested by users.
Changes in the HS over time require that
the more detailed coding of commodities
to enable application of the CET must
also be changed to conform to the new
international standard.

CARICOM VIEW

There are several issues relative to the
changes in the HS which affect the trade
data. The timing of implementation of the
HS-based CET at the national level is a
major issue. If this is implemented at a
time other than the beginning of the year,
it implies that the trade data would be
classified using different versions of the
HS with implications for the comparability of the data within a year and across
counties. Harmonisation of statistics
therefore becomes a nightmare.
With the change of the HS, there is also
need to prepare, at the Regional level, an
HS-SITC correlation table to reflect the
CET level of details and to enable analysis
by SITC Section. There are cases in which
the changes in the HS results in structural
breaks in the data. Additionally, the
upgrading of the SITC also can create
challenges with the HS-SITC correlation,
in terms of the past correspondence
which affect data comparability. Efforts
have been made at the Regional level to
create a correlation of the HS-based CET
to the SITC grounded in the latest
existing HS, but it is not a perfect
solution to these classification issues such
as structural breaks in the data due to
classification changes which may not have
a significant impact on the Section level
data and may more affect certain items at
the very detailed level (again which may
not be significant).
One of the main challenges with the
quality of the data overtime has been the
data on quantity of trade and this is
thought to be mainly due to the preoccupation of the Customs Department with
the collection of revenue. Even though
this is the case, the quantity figures
should have direct bearing on the revenue
to be collected. There are obvious
problems when comparisons of the unit
value of identical items are made. This
situation does not rule out the computation of Trade Indices using Unit Value
since outlier analysis can be incorporated.
Recent Developments in Trade Data
Production and Dissemination
At the CARICOM Secretariat, using funds
from its Research and Advisory budget,
the upgrading of the Trade Information
System from a DOS-based system based

www.CARICOM.ORG

on dBase IV to a system based on SQL
Server was undertaken in 2002. This also
involved the use of Microsoft Access at
the frontend. This was a first phase of a
planned programme to modernize the
trade information system at the Secretariat. Post this upgrading, funding
received from the IDB and the EU has
enabled improvements in the submission
of data from Member States to the
Secretariat, as well as improvement in the
processing of the data to produce the
regional trade information system
(Tradsys) and to enable its access via the
Internet.
The IDB provided funds for two aspects of
development of the trade systems in
Member States and at the Secretariat. The
first related to the review and enhancing
of the trade information system to
collect, process and manage the regional
data and to produce a draft data submission protocol to be used by Member
States as a common format for the
submission of data. In the course of
making these recommendations, an
assessment of the systems in use in
Member States in compiling trade data
and submitting to the Secretariat was
undertaken. The second component of the
project related to the design of an online
trade information system which is now
enabling usersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; access to key data on
trade through the internet.
Two projects were executed with funding
support by the EU. The first project
related to the installation of the New
Eurotrace for Windows for the processing
of trade data by those countries that were
using the DOS version. The project
involved in-country technical assistance
to upgrade the trade information system
in Member States. It specifically targeted
the implementation of the New Eurotrace
Software Package, which included the
development of a functioning domain,
loading of historical data, provision of the
relevant training, and the implementation
of the Data Submission Protocol for the
transmission of data to the Secretariat.
The second activity served to reinforce the
work undertaken by enabling full
implementation of the New Eurotrace for
Windows. It also provided training in the

29

full suite of the New Eurotrace software
including the processing, the dissemination (Comext), production of indices
(Trade Indices module) and the Mirror
Statistics Module for data reconciliation
between countries. With the upgrading of
Eurotrace to a Windows version,
countries migrated from the DOS to
Windows version with the support of the
EU project under the Ninth EDF executed
by the Secretariat. Data editing rules were
developed and installed in countries to
improve data quality and to minimise
manual checks.
Nowadays, many countries disseminate
trade data through their websites and
submit their trade data electronically via
official email communication and
otherwise. In the case of the online
Regional trade information system
(Tradsys_online) on the website, users
can access data at a specific level of
aggregation from this facility. It is
intended to further enhance the online
Tradsys with funding available from the
EU to enable better access to the trade
data through the internet. Countries
continue to perform appreciably relative
to the adherence to the data submission
protocol and to the timeline for the
submission of data to the Secretariat.
However in some aspects, the more things
change, the more they remain the same.
The challenges that affect the availability
and timeliness of trade data in the early
days of the development of a trade
monitoring system still occur today,
specifically that of more effective
coordination between Customs and the
NSOs in some countries. Effective
coordination at the national level can
offset challenges due to changes in the
system of the former that may not take
on board the needs of the NSOs.
Undoubtedly, there are marked improvements in the Regional trade monitoring
system.
The importance of the data then and now
is still primarily to monitor the impact
and achievements of the economic
integration agenda, but also for use by the
private sector and public sector for
decision-making on policy formulation
and on manufacturing initiatives.

CARICOM VIEW

A publication of the Caribbean Community

Invariably, there have been developments
brought on by improvements in IT
hardware and software. Data submission
can be said to have improved with
occasional glitches posed by the
challenges. Over the years, other reports
were produced, including a second digest
with data for the period 1970 to 1980;
Trade in Agricultural Commodities; Quick
Reference to Summary Data; Intraregional trade (Volumes 1 & 2). These are
listed below. Data are now distributed on
websites and are submitted through the
internet and online access to key trade
data is available on our website:
www.caricomstats.org. There has been
appreciable performance in intra-regional
trade and the trends and profile in trade
statistics of the past still exist today to a
large extent.

Community Member States

List of Different Trade Reports
A digest of Trade Statistics of Caribbean

he Secretariat is the engine of
any integration arrangement. The
size, structure, financing and
legal authority of the Secretariat
have significance for the overall effectiveness of the integration movement.
Ideally, these should relate in a planned
manner to the objectives of the Agreement and expectations of the parties.

2. A distributed secretariat with centres in
different capitals with responsibility for
specific areas of cooperation. The East
African Community and the Southern
African Development Committee (SADC)
are examples of this form of arrangement.
The last named has evolved and now has
most of the functions centralised in
Gaborone.

There are different models of secretariat
arrangements. Two bear recognition here.
These are:

3. As stated earlier, CARICOM followed
the centralised model. The Secretariat
began as a small arrangement to serve the
limited 11- member Caribbean Free Trade
Association (CARIFTA). It has evolved
with the accretion of functions as the
integration process widened and
deepened into the complex Caribbean
Community (CARICOM) including the
CARICOM Single Market and Economy
(CSME).

1. The central secretariat, located in a
Headquartersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; country or city with
responsibility for administration and
policy and/or administration, policy and
implementation. The European Union
(Brussels), The Andean Community or
Andean Pact (Lima); the Central American
Common Market (Guatemala) and The
Caribbean Community (Georgetown)
adopted this centralised model.

The Commonwealth Caribbean Regional
Secretariat (CCRS) was provided for in the
Treaty Establishing the Caribbean Free

31

Trade Association (CARIFTA) but it was
left to the Council of Ministers to define
its scope and development. It began as a
small body to pave the way for a movement of limited scope although there was
a sense that the objectives and membership could expand in yet unspecified ways.
While not clearly separated, we can
identify for purposes of this article, four
points or eras of the burgeoning of the
mandates of the Secretariat. These are:
1. The immediate pre-CARICOM period
1970-1972;
2. CARICOM to Grand Anse (1989)
3. Grand Anse to the CSME 1989/05,
and
4. Post-CSME

CARICOM VIEW

THE PRE-CARICOM PERIOD 1968-69
The first part of the period saw the small
cosy Secretariat under administrator Mr.
Noel Venner and Secretary General Fred
Cozier, at Colgrain House. The main
functions then were to:
(1) put in place the administrative and
host-country arrangements;
(2) put in place the arrangements, in
particular the Customs arrangements, for
the operation of the Caribbean Free Trade
Area; and
(3) coordinate the work of some of
common services areas, such as education
which came down from the Federal
experiment.
The second part of the pre-CARICOM
period was ushered in with the arrival of
the development economist and former
economic adviser to Prime Minister Eric
Williams of Trinidad and Tobago, William
Gilbert Demas in January 1970. Demas
was a regionalist and expansionist with a
keen sense of political timing.
The movement of the Secretariat from
Colgrain to the Bank of Guyana Building –
third floor – in the centre of Georgetown
gave the space and view to fuel his
imagination.
A major expansion of functions and staff
began in the second half of 1970. Key
areas of expansion included:
• Economic policy, research and statistics.
• Agriculture to encompass not only the
marketing of the agricultural products
covered by the Agricultural Marketing
Protocol (AMP) but policies for agricultural planning and development. Technical capacity was required to advise on the
rationalisation of agricultural production
in the Region and on marketing issues
relating to the major agricultural export
commodities of sugar and bananas.
• Transportation – maritime and air.
Important issues which had to be
addressed included:

A publication of the Caribbean Community

(i) The generation of statistics and other
information to support policy development in both maritime and air transportation;
(ii) Support for negotiations with
international airlines and shipping
companies and their cartel-type organisations such as the West Indies TransAtlantic Steamship Service (WITASS) on
levels for fares and rates as well as
services;
(iii) Developing information on, and
providing technical support to regional
bodies such as the Federal Shipping
Service which evolved into The West
Indies Shipping Corporation (WISCO),
The British West Indies Schooner Owners
Association and later, Leeward Island Air
Transport (LIAT).

• Labour. The trade unions had been in
the forefront of the movement for
Caribbean integration. The Secretariat had
to acquire and provide the capacity to
work with and draw on the experience
and expertise of that sector; and
• With increasing activity, including the
convening and servicing of regional
meetings, the administrative, including
finance, conference management and
servicing capacity of the Secretariat had
to be enhanced.

(iv) Interfacing with international
transportation policy and regulatory
bodies such as The International Civil
Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the
International Air Transport Association
(IATA) and the Inter-Governmental
Maritime Consultative Organisation
(IMCO) (now the International Maritime
Organisation (IMO)); and

The above are illustration of the accretion
of functions even ahead of clear legal
authority for expansion. The initial
success of the Free Trade arrangements,
growing enthusiasm in the Region among
the young and idealistic staff and signs of
tension from the polarisation of the
benefits from free trade led the Secretariat to publish in the first half of 1972,
a book, `From CARIFTA to Caribbean
Community’. This provided the intellectual basis for the decision by the Seventh
Conference of the Heads of Government
of the Commonwealth Caribbean in
November 1972 to advance the integration process.

(v) The Regional Shipping Council (RSC).

CARICOM TO GRAND ANSE

A two-person transportation unit was
established with technical support from
the Economic Commission for Latin
America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in
Trinidad and Tobago to deal with the
range of transportation issues;

The Treaty of Chaguaramas specified the
objectives, in an open-ended manner for
the next phase of integration and
accordingly, the mandates of the Secretariat. Many of these were foreshadowed
in the developments between 1970 and
1972. The key objectives were:

• Health. This has been a major issue for
the Caribbean. Critical areas included
Public Health, Health Policy; Control of
Tropical Diseases; Management of Public
Sector Health Services; Drug testing,
formulation and procurement: training of
health sector personnel, including nurses.
Facilitated by a Pan American Health
Organisation (PAHO)-provided expert
who had served as Chief Medical Officer
in several Caribbean countries, a multimillion dollar programme was developed
in all the key areas of need. The Secretariat was also required to service regular
meetings of ministers of Health, of nurses
and of other expert groups.

32

1. The economic integration of the
Member States by the establishment of A
Common Market Regime. (This is the
broad arrangement set out in the Annex
to the Treaty);
2. The coordination of the foreign policies
of Member States; and
3. Functional cooperation, including
(a) The efficient operation of certain
common services and activities;
(b) The promotion of greater understanding among the people and the advancement of their social, cultural and techno-

CARICOM VIEW

logical development; and
(c) Cooperation in activities in a number
of fields. Areas were identified in the
schedule to the Treaty but it was made
clear that these were not exhaustive as
the Conference of Heads of Government
could add to them at any time.
In seeking a full appreciation of the work
and mandate implications of the Treaty of
Chaguaramas we must go, however,
beyond the objectives and also consider:
• The intent in the preambular paragraphs
which are extremely broad, in particular
the third of the four paragraphs. This
speaks, inter alia, to:
(i) The optimum utilisation of human
and natural resources,
(ii) Accelerated, coordinated and
sustained development,
(iii) Efficient operation of common
services and functional cooperation in
social, cultural, educational and
technological fields; and
(iv) Creation of a common front in
relation to the external world.
Some of these are highlighted in the
objectives but the intent in the preamble
is much more fundamental and
long-term.
It is also important to appreciate that the
two Organs – the Conference and The
Common Market Council – and the seven
ministerial Institutions, all had the power
to issue instructions to the Secretariat.
The number of institutions, itself, was not
exhaustive as there was provision for
Conference to add. The initial seven were
for Health, Education, Labour, Foreign
Affairs, Finance, Agriculture and Mines.
The institutions had the authority to
establish subsidiary committees, agencies
and other bodies they considered
necessary for the efficient performance of
their function.
The organs and institutions, with the
exception of the Common Market Council

www.CARICOM.ORG

were expected to meet at least once per
year. The Common Market Council was
expected to meet quarterly. These
meetings could be in any Member State.
Certain unforeseen regional and moreso
global developments in the five years
immediately after the establishment of
Community had significant implications
for the nature and intensity of the work
of the Community ad hence the Secretariat. Important, but not in priority
order were:
1. The need to establish a new relationship with the United Kingdom as a new
member of the European Economic
Community (EEC), and hence with the
EEC and with the Commonwealth. This
not only took the Region into uncharted
waters, but into waters in which it had to
take a leadership role, establish alliances,
create required structures and write the
rules. Political leaders such as Shridath
'Sonny" Ramphal of Guyana and P.J.
Patterson of Jamaica and national
officials such as Brazanne Babb of
Barbados, who was stationed in Brussels
for a period, played leading roles. The
Secretariat was called upon, however, not
only to coordinate technical studies and
other preparations but often had to
accompany delegations across Europe,
Africa, the Indian Ocean and the Pacific to
advise, coordinate and ensure that there
were records. The Deputy Secretary
General, Mr Joseph Tyndall, was soon
assigned full-time and stationed in
Brussels while the Chief of Economic
Policy and Research, later the Director for
the Trade and Integration Division
(DTID), Mr Edwin Carrington, was almost
continuously with the regional team on
its varied missions. Secretary-General
William Demas and later Alister McIntyre
were ubiquitous. Fortunately, Demas
hated flying but loved the telephone, so
the Secretariat in Georgetown could have
his physical presence.
Many other areas of the Secretariat,
including Trade Policy and Customs
Administration, Agriculture, in particular
staff dealing with commodities, Economic
Research and Statistics, Legal Services,
Conference Services, and Transportation
were signiﬁcantly involved. The Lome 1

33

Convention yoking the ACP on the one
hand and the EEC on the other was the
result of the negotiations. It was a
path-breaking agreement between
developed and developing countries and
went into implementation at the beginning of 1975. This could not have come
too soon. The CARICOM Secretariat
sacriﬁced its Director of Trade and
Integration Division to become the
Deputy Secretary-General of the new ACP
Secretariat but cut back on overall
engagement for the next two-and-a half
years until the negotiating cycle for the
second five-year convention commenced.
2. The international economic crisis,
which began to unfold with the first oil
shock at about the same time as the
conclusion of the negotiation of the
Treaty of Chaguaramas, threw the Region
into crisis in its production and in its
external trade and economic relations.
Several Member States came under
pressure.
The Secretariat was called upon to lead or
coordinate work, inter alia to:
• Monitor developments in areas such as
commodity - including petroleum - prices
and availability and assess the impact on
the Region and on individual Member
States;
• Develop strategies and mechanisms to
minimise potential adverse impacts on
the fledgling integration process and
individual Member States. Areas of work
completed or advanced by the time of the
Special Heads of Government Conference
in April 1976 included:
(1) The creation of a CARICOM Multilateral Clearing and Payments Facility
(CMCF) to minimise the foreign exchange
needed to facilitate intra-regional trade;
(2) The creation of a multilateral balance
of payments support fund
(3) The promulgation of a Regional Food
Plan and the establishment of a Regional
Food Corporation to spearhead implementation of the Regional Food Plan.
(4) The re-organisation of regional

CARICOM VIEW

agriculture research and the establishment of the Caribbean Agricultural
Research and Development Institute
(CARDI);
(5) The convening of one meeting of the
Heads of the National Planning Agencies
as provided for in Article 45 (2) of the
Treaty on Coordination of National
Development Planning.
The coincidence of the bulging of
mandates from the integration initiatives
arising from the new Treaty of Chaguaramas and the imperative to respond to the
shocks and potential dislocation from the
international crisis placed major demands
on the relatively small Secretariat. The
demands were met through a combination of initiatives including the expansion
of the core staff, the use of technical
working groups drawing on the expertise
of national administrations and regional
institutions including the University of
the West Indies (UWI) and the Caribbean
Development Bank (CDB); and the use of
short- and medium-term experts financed
under technical assistance arrangements.
At the same time, from the integration
perspective, a number of factors slowed
the positive energy of the movement
between 1976 and 1979. The organisation
lost staff. Relationships among the
Member States deteriorated. The capacity
of several States to bear their share of the
cost of supporting integration weakened,
The Conference failed to meet between
April 1976 and November 1982 to give
direction and impetus to the process and
provide mandates for the Secretariat.
And, to crown the situation, there was no
Secretary-General in office for two years.
These might have reduced the pressure on
the Secretariat from increased mandates
but increased the pressure to maintain
the spirit in an increasingly negative
environment.
Positive effort resumed with the appointment of Barbadian, Dr Kurleigh King, a
Director in the CDB and former Head of
the Industrial Development Corporation
of Barbados, as Secretary-General in
October, 1978. Secretary-General King
was a systems and organisational
management specialist. He set about

A publication of the Caribbean Community

reorganising the structures and rebuilding
the staff.

Among other things, CARICOM leaders
agreed to:

His ascendancy coincided with another
period of internal and external pressures.
It was marked by the second oil shock and
global recession; the re-emergence of
internal trade imbalances between the
Region’s oil exporting member and the
other Member States; the emergence of
the doctrines of structural adjustment,
the Washington consensus; and pressures
on social development activities which
were significant in sustaining the
integration process in the preceding
period.

• A policy of ideological plurality;
• A major and comprehensive
programme to address all aspects of
the energy challenge. They were
facilitated by a ﬁve-year, US$5M grant
from United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The CCS
and the CDB were able to set up energy
units to address the four major areas
of the challenge in a coordinated
manner;

Secretary-General William Demas (with
sunglasses) engages the media. He is
flanked by Edwin Carrington, who later
became the longest serving
Secretary-General, and Mr. Byron Blake,
former Assistant Secretary-General, Trade
and Economic Integration.

There was also the Grenadian revolution
of March, 1979, when the Peoples
Revolutionary Government (PRG) under
Maurice Bishop seized power in Grenada.
This opened a rift between the socialist
leaning and the West-bending members
of the Movement. All of these developments placed pressure on the technical
and leadership capacity of the Secretariat.
With the experience of the stagnation of
the integration process fresh in mind, the
Region seemed more determined to tackle
the challenges from a Regional perspective. They were given a window by the
ascendancy of the more liberal and
socially conscious Jimmy Carter to the
Presidency of the United States in
January, 1979.

34

• A major health sector management
and training programme. This also
beneﬁted from a USAID grant and the
Secretariat was able to put in place the
capacity to mange it; and
• Develop a Caribbean response to
structural adjustment based on
Caribbean expertise and experience.
The 1979 to 1989 period represented, on
balance, for the integration process and
the Secretariat, an era of rebuilding and
consolidation. It required persistence and
self-effacing diplomacy which fitted the
character of Secretaries-General King and
Roderick Rainford.

CARICOM VIEW

GRAND ANSE TO CSME
The Heads of Government Conference in
Grenada in July, 1979, had a major
declaration and three decisions which had
significant implications for the integration process and the work of the Secretariat. These were:
• The `Grand Anse Declaration and Work
Programme for the Advancement of the
Integration Movement’;
• The establishment of a Commission (The
West Indian Commission) under the
Chairmanship of Sir Shridath Ramphal to
promote the purposes of the Treaty of
Chaguaramas and to report before the
conference in 1992;
• The establishment of a committee under
the coordination of Jamaica to work
towards the establishment of a CARICOM
stock exchange and also for Jamaica to
coordinate work on a CARICOM Investment Fund; and
• The acceptance of the decisions of
Ministerial Conference on the Environment embodied in the Port-of-Spain
Accord on the management and conservation of the environment and for meetings
of Ministers responsible for the environment to be convened as necessary.

www.CARICOM.ORG

There were other decisions made at
that 10th Conference with strong
implications for the work of the
Secretariat such as the support for
work on Small Island Development
States (SIDS), the establishment of an
`Assembly of Caribbean Parliamentarians’ and the need to create a mechanism for disaster management and
response.
The work of the CSME was given very
high priority by the Secretariat and,
for several years, was the issue around
which the work programme of the
Organisation revolved.
The Heads of Government also took
several decisions at their Annual
Conferences in 1990, 1991 and 1992
and at their Special Meeting on 28-31
October, 1992, in Trinidad and
Tobago, and where they considered
the Report of the West Indian
Commission which further magnified
the workload of the Secretariat. These
decisions included agreements to:
• Establish a Bureau of the Conference
and a Community Council which had
to be serviced by the Secretariat;
• Create a Monetary Union;
• Promote the establishment of an
Association of Caribbean States;

• Charge particular Heads of Government
with responsibility for speciﬁc areas of
the integration and cooperation processes
such as external economic negotiations,
the CSME, Health, Agriculture and
Cricket. Prime Ministerial
sub-committees, which had to be serviced,
were soon established in many cases: and
• Develop a Charter of Civil Society.
The Conference later admitted the
Dutch-speaking Suriname and Frenchspeaking Haiti to the grouping. The
decision stipulated that the official
language would remain English but there
was a new challenge for the Secretariat
and the integration movement to
communicate with and integrate the
populations of these countries into the
process.
The Conference sought to strengthen the
Secretariat by:
(a) Making the Secretary-General a
member of the Bureau and
(b) Purporting to give the SecretaryGeneral executive authority.
In reality, the first created more work and
the second was a mirage as the officials, in
seeking to give effect to the decision in
the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas,
qualiﬁed ﬁve of the seven functions to be
performed by the Secretary-General by
the words “as mandated”, “as required” or
“with the consent of”. Better and more
autonomous financing and more staff
would have been much greater enablers.
In addition to the decisions of the
Conference, certain hemispheric and
global realities in the ﬁrst half of the
1990s also called for responses and
actions by the Secretariat. These included:
• The decision of the First Summit of the
Americas in 1994 to:
(a) work to establish “A Free Trade Area
of the Americas” and

A meeting in session
in the CARICOM
Secretariat
Conference Room,
Turkeyen

(b) indulge in other areas of priority
interest such as ﬁnance and sustainable
development. The last named was
followed by a hemispheric Summit in
Bolivia in 1996.

35

CARICOM VIEW

• The Agreement in 1994 to establish the
World Trade Organisation (WTO) and to
bring trade in services under international rules through the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS);
• The concerted attack by the United
States and the Latin American banana
exporting countries on the European
Banana Regime; and
• The convening by the UN of a series of
global conferences on key social sectors
and issues such as Population, Women in
Development, Housing and Settlement.
All the above had tremendous implications for the workload of the Secretariat.
It responded to the increased mandates
through a variety of strategies, including:
• increasing the establishment where
budget permitted, re-organising and
re-assignment of staﬀ, and the expansion
of functions of existing staﬀ members;
• projectising of activities, mobilising
funding and in cases, locating project
units outside of Guyana while maintaining control in Georgetown.
Examples of such project arrangements
include Caribbean Export (formerly the
Caribbean Export Development Project),
The CSME Unit, and the Regional
Negotiating Machinery (now the Oﬃce of
Trade Negotiations). All of these named
projects were located in Barbados for ease
of communication and management:
• The use of ad hoc technical working
groups.
The majority of the strategies deployed by
the Secretariat to respond to the increasing mandates required the accommodation of additional persons at Headquarters even for short periods. This placed
pressure on physical accommodation.
IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PHYSICAL
LOCATION OF THE SECRETARIAT
The expanding workload had implications
for the physical location of the Secretariat. The Treaty provides that the
headquarters of the Community “shall be
in Georgetown, Guyana.”

A publication of the Caribbean Community

From the humble beginnings in Colgrain
House in 1968 to the third ﬂoor of the
Bank of Guyana Building, which became
its postal address until 2005, accommodation was a constant struggle and absorbed
signiﬁcant management capacity. During
those intervening years, the Secretariat
occupied, not all at the same time, no
fewer than 13 locations across Georgetown. These included:
• Bank of Guyana Building (the Third and
Fourth Floors) which housed the Central
Administration and key services such as
Finance, Human Resource Management
(personnel function), Legal Services,
Conference Services and Documentation.
• American Life Insurance Building, Hinck
Street (which housed the Functional
Cooperation Division for a long period).
• Hinck Street (where Medicare Pharmacy
is now located) which housed the
Technical Assistance Section.
• Avenue of the Republic and Brickdam
(which housed a number of project type
activities)
• The former Colonial Life Insurance
Building, Avenue of the Republic and
North Road.
• The Juman Yassin Building, North Road
(opposite St. George's Church).
• The old United States Information
Service (USIS) Building on North Road
which housed the Statistics Unit
• The Eddy Grant Building, High Street
Kingston which housed the Directorate of
Trade and Economic Integration and the
Statistical Unit when the former moved
from the Juman Yassin Building.
• High Street, Kingston (two doors from
Eddy Grant Building) which housed the
CARICOM Legislative Drafting Facility
• High Street, Kingston (one block away
from Eddy Grant Building) which housed
the Division of Foreign and Community
Relations and Technical Assistance
Section.

36

• The Fairlie House Building in Kingston
which housed the Directorate of Human
and Social Development for much of the
later period
• CARIFORUM, Bel Air Springs
• CARIFORUM, Lamaha Gardens
The dispersion of the Secretariat made for
less than optimum operation. There were
signiﬁcant ineﬃciencies especially in the
duplication of services, transit time for
staﬀ and documents and in arrangements
for consultation and coordination.
The government of Guyana was responsible for and committed to providing a
headquarters building. A design emerged
from a Region-wide competition in the
late 1970s/80s. Resources proved a
challenge. The idea was revised several
times and several sites proposed. But it
was not until early in the new millennium
that a decision was taken to construct the
headquarters at Turkeyen, Greater
Georgetown.
The idea was to construct a building which
would house the entire Secretariat,
including a conference centre. The new
headquarters building at Turkeyen has
come close. There is an annex in close
proximity and access to a conference
facility.
Opened in 2005 when most of the
pioneers of the 1970s had left, it might
just be that the wandering spirit has come
to rest in the new:
• CARICOM Secretariat Headquarters,
Turkeyen
• CARICOM Secretariat Annex, Turkeyen
Rest spirit but remember, even after 40
years there is much more work to be done
to land this Caribbean integration dream.
Many might say the vision needs to be
re-kindled.